The Long Road Back
by BillAtWork
Summary: Immediately follows The Long Brick Road.  When things turn against them, Chuck and Sarah find out how far they will go in order to be together.
1. The Betrayal

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_This story immediately follows The Long Brick Road, the story that I had the privilege to co-write with BrickRoad under the penname BillAndBrick. Unfortunately, she is unavailable to help me write this, so it's only fair to her that I publish this under my own name._

_This, like all of my stories, is ultimately a love story. Or more accurately, it is the story of love, how it inspires, drives, and sometimes hurts. And of course, it is mainly the love story of Chuck and Sarah, and what they will do for each other. But it isn't only their love story. In fact, some of the love I'm talking about isn't even of the romantic kind._

_Warning: this story will have some adult themes. Since BR is not here to keep me in check, this might be a tad darker in tone than the original story. Naturally, all of my story rules still apply. That means you can count on the story being finished, a happy ending (at least if you're rooting for Chuck and Sarah to get together), and timely updates._

_There will be some things that may make you squirm for a minute (or maybe ten). Nothing graphic or outside the guidelines for a T rated story, but proceed at your own discretion. I'll be sure to post a warning before any chapter that goes there. If you've read my stories before (and if not, WTH?) you'll know what I'm talking about._

**The Betrayal**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah Walker really didn't need anything as complicated as a plane to get from Cancun back to Houston. She was pretty sure that she could have strapped Ellie and Chuck to her back, flapped her arms, and flown there all on her own. That's how great she was feeling. But they had the plane there already, and she had to drop it back off in Houston anyway. So she might as well fly it, right?

The Bartowski siblings, which were now her new family, were in exact opposite moods. Ellie was so eager to see Devon that she probably could have flapped her arms and kept pace with Sarah. Chuck, on the other hand, crawled into the back seat and was sleeping before Sarah had the plane on the runway.

Sarah grinned as she looked back at him as soon as the auto-pilot had taken over the flying duties. Well, that wasn't totally accurate. The grin was already there well before she looked. It had pretty much been perpetual for the past twenty-four hours. But she did look back at him… fondly. The poor guy deserved some rest after the physical effort he had just made. Sure, Sarah was tired too. But she had to admit, Chuck had carried more of the physical load last night. Oh, and again this morning.

Sarah had to admit something else… if Ellie hadn't been along for the ride, Sarah would have been seriously tempted to climb back there and sample some mile-high action. After all, they had to drive all the way back home from Houston with Casey. That would take all day, and them some. It probably wasn't going to be until late tonight in bed that they would be able to pick up where they had left off this morning. So, let the poor guy rest while he could.

Actually, that got Sarah thinking. Where was tonight in bed? Beckman had agreed to allow them to move in together, but they didn't have a place yet. It would be some days before they would be able to find one. His bed? That wouldn't work at all, too many damn cameras for what she had in mind. She was completely teasing him when she said that Beckman was rumored to be a voyeur, and Casey would gouge out his own eyes with a steak knife rather than watch… but there were still plenty of other people with potential access to those tapes who probably wouldn't turn down the opportunity to see Agent Walker naked and… umm… physically engaged in an intimate manner.

Her hotel room didn't have any cameras pointed at the bed. Of course, it didn't have any cameras anywhere. But that meant that it was also totally unsecured. Would Beckman be okay with the intersect spending the night in such an unsecured location? Sarah decided it was better not to ask and just do it. If she was questioned about it, she could always argue that she didn't want him out of sight of one of his handlers that first night. That really didn't explain why she couldn't have just spent the night at his place. But Beckman might buy it, at least enough to let it slide.

Sarah was finally brought out of her daydream by the sight of her best friend wordlessly grinning at her. "What?" she finally asked.

"What," Ellie repeated skeptically. "Sarah Walker, you should see your face. You finally got your wish. Was it as fantastic as you hoped?"

Sarah knew that any denial was pointless, even if she wanted too. And she didn't want too. After all, she was eager to share her great feeling with her best friend. "Oh my God," she said. "Ellie, it was ten times better than my wildest hope. Chuck was perfect. He did…"

"You're not going to get into any specifics, are you?" Ellie quickly interrupted. "You do realize that this is not just some random guy that you met at a bar we're talking about, it's my brother. I might just have to jump out of the plane."

Sarah reached over and playfully slapped her arm. "No specifics," she said. "Except for that one thing that he did with his tongue, I wonder where he ever learned how to do that. I didn't think it was even possible. Ellie, you're a doctor, explain this to me. He would take his…"

"Sarah," Ellie interrupted. "I'm not kidding. I'll really jump."

"I'm just teasing you," Sarah said as they shared a long laugh. "But he was so amazing. He is everything that you would hope for in a man. You should be so proud of him. After all, you raised him. He was everything that I ever dreamed about… and more. He was loving and gentle and patient. Wherever he went, he made sure I was right there with him. Ellie, it was the perfect night. It was by far the very best night of my life. He was… he was simply perfect."

Ellie looked at her for a long moment and then laughed. "Oh my God. You sound like you're ready to climb back there and wake him up."

Sarah grin turned sinister. "Why do you think I'm trying to get you to jump?" she asked.

"Wow," she said while still laughing. "You are, without a doubt, the most lovesick schoolgirl I've ever seen. It's almost pathetic."

"I know," Sarah sighed.

"Isn't it great?"

x-x-x-x-x

The Vice President had a few different offices at his disposal. Naturally, he had one at the White House. And since he was President of the Senate, he also had one in the Capitol building. But neither of those was suitable for this conversation. After all, all of the meetings in those offices, their participants, and the times and durations were carefully tracked. And who knew what conversations were taped and who might be listening? But political men as powerful as he was had many resources, like a campaign office perhaps. Someplace where it was perfectly legitimate for him to seen. Yet free of the 'rules' that came with the government offices.

"This is not good," the Vice President said. "The President is watching now. Fulcrum is getting close to building their own intersect. They're also getting close to this Bartowski. If they happen to capture him, the war would be in serious jeopardy. This is getting serious."

The man across the desk simply smiled. "Where you see problems," he said. "I see opportunity. We've always known that those Fulcrum morons were expendable. They've been valuable in keeping everyone's attention from our true objective."

"Yes," the VP replied. "But we can't let them win. That would be a disaster. Ted Roarke is a loose cannon. If he gets to powerful…"

"And he won't," the man said. "Don't worry. We'll just bring this Bartowski character in where he'll be safe. He may be able to provide us with a service."

"But what about his team?" the VP asked. "They are most impressive. They've planted anyone who has come up against them so far."

"There's an old saying," the man said with a grin. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Major Casey is easy. We'll just send him to Afghanistan and let him live in a cave for a couple of years. Walker is going to be the tough one. She's pretty bright. Did you know that she served in the Secret Service for a year? Assigned to the Vice President's personal detail would be very close."

"That's all I need," the VP said with a grin. "Have you seen her? If my wife got one look at her on my personal detail, all hell would break loose."

"Don't worry," the man said. "I don't expect Agent Walker to survive very long. First she has to get past the Psychological Team at Langley. She might have a harder time getting recertified than she thought. I might go there and see to it personally. After all, she knows far too much about things and she's much to smart to fool. She'd eventually put two and two together. She's probably figured some things out already. We can't have that. Fortunately, even if she convinces the Langley doctors of her loyalty, protecting the Vice President of the United States in war time is a very dangerous job. We'll set her up."

The VP got up from his seat. "This conversation never took place," he said.

"What conversation was that, sir?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was having a very good day. Well, actually, the past couple of weeks had been pretty great. But today, everything was coming together.

First there was the kiss that Chuck planted on her just before they got out of the plane in Houston. Not only was it pretty sweet on it's own, it was always special when he made the first move, but it also was a great sign for tonight. Not that she really worried about the prospect of wearing him out or anything, at least not so soon, but you could never be too careful.

The next thing may have been a little petty, but it was still fun. Since Chuck had to endure her flirting with that nasty plane rental guy two weeks ago, a little comeuppance was due. She took great pleasure in slapping down his crude but totally expected come-on in front of Chuck with the expertise that years of practice in being hit on had given her. The jerk was pretty much left devastated… served him right. What was the moron thinking anyway? Couldn't he see she was in love?

The next thing was probably the best. She got to watch the scene as Ellie and Devon were reunited after being apart for two weeks. The look of joy on her best friend's face as he held her was quite moving. Of course, after rooming with Casey for two weeks, it was tough to tell what Devon was happier about, seeing his fiancé again, or eating a decent meal. After Sarah had spent a fair amount of time paying Ellie back for all of the lovesick schoolgirl teasing she had endured for the past two weeks, she finally hugged her and promised her a few days alone with him before she came to visit. But there still was that sloppy drunk thing that they owed each other.

Then there was the last, but certainly not least thing. Sarah had spent a fair amount of effort on her plan to get back at all the barbs Casey had aimed at Chuck and her over the past two plus years. The main gist of the plan was to tell him, in somewhat vivid detail, with perhaps even something of a practical demonstration or two, the new nature of her relationship with their asset. But she was starting to have second thoughts. She was even actually starting to feel a little guilty. Maybe she should go a little easy on the poor guy. After all, they had just spent two weeks in a luxury resort lying on the beach, drinking rum, and… well, having a good time in general. Poor Casey and Devon had spent the two weeks in a mountain cabin with no hot water eating army rations.

"Walker," Casey said with his usual smirk as he walked up. "Bartowski. What happened to Cole? Did Walker leave him so exhausted that he couldn't make the trip? Can he still walk?"

Well, that was settled. Casey was still Casey… and he had just unknowingly given her a great gift. Guilt was no longer going to be an issue. Sarah just smiled… and whispered in Chuck's ear.

"This drive is going to be so much fun."

x-x-x-x-x

General Beckman sat at her desk but it honestly felt a little odd. Whenever you were talking to this senior of an officer, it felt like you should be standing at attention, even if it was only on the phone. "Yes, sir," she said. "It's all set up. I've called the meeting for noon their time tomorrow."

"Yes, sir. She completely bought it. She won't run."

"No, sir. She's definitely not going to be very happy. Isn't there something else we can do? They have been a very effective team. And this seems a bit drastic."

"Of course, sir. I follow orders."

"Yes, sir. I'll call you when they are in route."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah, at long last, was back in the bed that she had grown accustomed to, in the room she had called home for the past two years. Except that she never really thought of it that way. She didn't have a home, really didn't know what that even felt like. This was the place where she had lived for the longest amount of time in her whole life, and it was a stupid hotel room.

But tonight was completely different. In a lot of ways it was more exciting than last night. Sure, first times were wildly exciting, even second times were still new. But tonight she was getting ready for bed knowing that she would be sleeping along side the father of her future children. This was the start of the rest of her life. It was her dream come true. The only thing that would be better would be the first night in their new apartment.

Chuck was obviously pretty nervous about being here. Cancun had been neutral territory. This was different. It was the place that had always been off-limits to him. He had only seen the inside of this room a handful of times in the past two years. The last time was when he had comforted her after her dad left. If he only knew how close she had come that night to asking him to stay, that she had actually decided to ask him but couldn't get the words out of her mouth, it would have freaked him out.

"Poor Casey," he called through the partially open bathroom door where she was getting ready for bed. "Do you really think that he would have shot himself?"

"I'm not sure," Sarah laughed. "Don't feel too sorry for him. He's certainly had it coming with all the snarky comments he's directed our way. You were perfect, by the way. I was beginning to think that you were really going to go for it in that back seat. So did Casey."

Chuck shared her laugh. "Hey," he said innocently. "You said any time, any place. Didn't you mean it?"

"I absolutely meant it," she responded through the door. "I'm just surprised that you would pick that time and place."

"Yeah," he said. "Well you were right. He had it coming."

Sarah held the silk nightshirt she had bought in Cancun in her hand and showed it to him as she hid behind the slightly open door. "Is this okay?" she asked. "Now that we're home, I have some things that might be a little more… exciting." She regretted the words before they were totally out of her mouth. She hadn't thought that one through at all. Sure, she had a couple of very sexy sets of lingerie in her drawer. But other men had seen them. Marks had seen them. It suddenly didn't seem right to wear them in this situation. In fact, it felt downright awful. She would throw them away as soon as she could without him noticing. Ellie was right when they went shopping that very first time. She should have bought one. Of course she was right for the wrong reasons. She shouldn't have bought one to seduce him. It should have been just for Chuck, to show him how much she wanted to make him happy. She would the very next time they were out.

Fortunately, Chuck bailed her out. "Does it matter?" he asked. "Are you really planning on wearing it very long?"

"Good point," she said with a laugh. "Maybe I should just come out naked."

"It would save some time," he teased.

Chuck's eyes widened as he suddenly realized that she wasn't kidding. Sure, he had caught glimpses of her before. They were approaching double digits of times making love. But those other times had always been in the dark. This was the first time that he had really seen her in all of her glory with the lights on. And the sight was breathtaking. It was quiet possibly the most erotic sight of his life.

She was most definitely looking for his reaction, and was clearly very pleased when she saw the wonder in his face. So she actually posed there for a long moment to allow him to fully take in the view. But finally she had to smile at the redness that was now well into his face. It was so cute. "Let this be a lesson," she said as she climbed into bed beside him and turned off the light. "Don't ask for things that you don't really want. Because I think you're going to quickly discover that there isn't much that you could ask for from me and not get."

Chuck just leaned over and kissed her. Predictably, the kissing quickly turned passionate.

"Who said that I didn't really want it?"

x-x-x-x-x

It was twenty minutes later and Sarah was just beginning to catch her breath. She knew that this would eventually become a routine. In fact, in a very real way she was looking forward to it. But it clearly was going to be some time in the future. Until then, she had simply made up her mind to stop worrying why every time seemed better… and just enjoy the ride.

"Chuck," she said as she snuggled closer to him. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Hmmm," Chuck mumbled.

Taking that as a yes, Sarah continued. "Okay, I know that this sounds a little jealous. And maybe it is a little. But where did you learn to do that move? Did Jill teach you that?"

Chuck paused for a moment to figure out if she was being serious. Finally, he decided that she was. "Trust me," he said. "The only thing that Jill ever taught me about sex was how to beg for it."

"Then where?"

"That one was from Morgan," he said.

"Excuse me?"

That got him laughing. "Oh my God," he said. "Ewwww. Not like that. He didn't literally teach me anything. His second step-dad subscribed to Penthouse Forum. When we were teenagers, Morgan would steal them and give them to me after he was… umm… done with them."

"You're getting incredibly close to putting an image in my brain that I definitely don't want there," she said with her own laugh. "But let me get this straight. You learned that move… from porn?"

"Forum is not porn," Chuck quickly protested. "There are no pictures. It's just true stories from readers as they describe their experiences. I wasn't sure if it would work. But I tried it, and you seemed to like it, so…"

"It still sounds like porn to me," Sarah said as she continued laughing. "But it most definitely worked. And, yes, wherever you learned it, I liked it… a lot."

"That's good," Chuck said with his own grin. "Maybe I can tell Morgan that you don't dislike him quite as much now. He's pretty much scared to death of you."

"I don't dislike Morgan," Sarah protested. "You have to admit, he is a bit… out there. But, you're right. I like him a lot more after hearing that story." After lying there for a long moment, she continued. "Can I ask you something without freaking you out?"

"Well, not now," Chuck replied with a grin. "The first rule of not freaking someone out is not to tell them that you might freak them out."

"Duly noted," Sarah said.

"The second rule is to not leave them hanging," he said with a short laugh. "What are you going to ask me?"

Sarah paused for a long moment. "I want to get married," she finally said.

"I thought we already agreed…"

"No," Sarah interrupted. "I know we've going to get married someday. I want to get married now, this week. I know that we can't tell people. And it doesn't mean that we can't have a real wedding someday. I… Chuck, look, I know that I'm sounding pretty crazy. I just want to be married to you."

Chuck just shrugged his shoulders. "You're not sounding crazy at all," he said. "Okay, we can do that. As long as I'm the genie tonight, is there anything else you want?"

"Well," she said shyly. "As long as you're asking, do you have any other tricks that you learned from porn… umm, I mean Forum?"

"I might have a thing or two up my sleeve," Chuck said.

"Do you think that maybe we can try one?"

Chuck just grinned. "Be careful," he said as he grabbed her and rolled then over so that Sarah was on her back with him on top of her. "Don't ask for things that you don't really want. Because I think you're going to quickly discover that there isn't much that you could ask for from me and not get."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was already in the Castle briefing room talking to Beckman on the monitor when Sarah walked down the steps. She had just dropped Chuck off for his first shift back at the Buy More. And okay, so maybe she put on a bit of a performance kissing him goodbye. She was tired of those morons always wondering what the problem was with their relationship anyway. It was time to put those worries to bed.

"Agent Walker," Beckman said with her usual sarcasm. "It's nice of you to finally join us."

Sarah looked over at Casey. He looked unusually tense. Was he still pissed about the show that they had put on yesterday in that back seat? _Come on, Casey. It was all in good fun_. "Ma'am," she said. "Chuck and I would like to begin looking for our apartment as soon as practical, this afternoon, if that's possible."

"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible, Agent Walker," she said. Then she nodded towards Casey. "I'm sorry this action has to appear to be so drastic, but we can't take any chances. This is for your own good."

When Sarah looked over, she noticed for the first time that Casey was holding a tranq gun in his hand. And that there was suddenly a dart sticking out of her shoulder. Just as she felt the darkness overtake her, she heard Beckman say something. It sounded like "there's been a slight change in plans."

Then Casey reached out to grab her to protect her from falling as Sarah's body collapsed and her world went completely dark…

In more ways than one.

x-x-x-x-x


	2. Off the Grid

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_Thanks to my friend Lucky47 for teaching me the difference between to, too, and two. Next week we tackle they're, their, and there. There's a quiz on Friday, so off to study, lol._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_Some adult content in this chapter, mostly language._

_Okay, I want to get something on the table. There are some bad guys in this story. For a long time they had different names. But, then it came to me. He was clearly Daniel Shaw. She was clearly Hannah (we don't know her last name). I know those names generate visceral reactions in a lot of you (me too). But they will never become PLIs. In this story Chuck and Sarah are not ever in a place where a PLI is even remotely possible. I promised this story would be a little darker, and it will be… but not in that way. There may be some things that will make you wince for a minute, but you'll never question their dedication to each other. Sorry if that ruins anything for anybody, lol._

_So, now that we have that out of the way, on with the story._

**Off the Grid**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was far too happy over life in general to be all that upset. After all, he had just spent the very best two weeks of his life. Not only that, every single day got better and better. Last night was the kicker. He already knew that he and Sarah would be married someday, but now it was apparently going to happen this week. And she was the one who wanted it more than he did. Two weeks ago, that would have been too much to even fanaticize about. Now it was going to happen.

But the simple truth was that he was currently more than a little annoyed. The first hour back and they send him on a service run? But the customer had asked for him specifically, Big Mike told him. He had done some work for this customer before, and he was so impressed that he waited for him to be available. That was always nice to hear.

When Chuck got to the specified address, he was a little confused. He couldn't remember ever being here before. Then again, he had been to so many places that it was easy to forget one. So he just knocked on the door.

Chuck was getting used to being able to hide his flashes. But he instantly knew that Mark Rodgers was a CIA agent the second that he answered the door. The intersect didn't think that Agent Rodgers was rogue, but he knew that this was not a simple service call. He needed to get out of here and contact Sarah. "I'm sorry," he said as he tried to retreat. "I must have the wrong address."

Rodgers just smiled. "Relax, Mr. Bartowski," he said. "No one is going to hurt you."

Chuck looked down and saw the dart that was sticking out of his chest. He didn't know it at the time, and he certainly didn't have enough time to think about it through his panic before the blackness consumed him and he collapsed to the ground in a heap, but there was one thing for sure.

The adventure that would forever change his life, and the life of everyone he loved, had just begun.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah slowly struggled to wake up from the effects of the drug. Even barely conscious, she instinctively knew that something was seriously wrong. She could hear voices, but really couldn't concentrate enough through the fog to make out what they were saying. Finally she became aware enough to notice that she was sitting on a chair with her hands secured behind her back. As soon as she could open her eyes she looked around at the situation. "Why would you tranq me?" she more moaned than said to Casey who was sitting next to her.

"Agent Walker, Major Casey was following my direct order," Beckman said from the monitor.

Suddenly, Agent Walker was back and full memory returned. "And why in the world would you issue such a ridiculous order?" Sarah demanded with a hostile glare. "I demand an explanation. This is an outrage."

"It was for your own good, Agent Walker," Beckman said. "It was obvious that you're hopelessly compromised, even before you yourself admitted it. You would have tried to interfere with Mr. Bartowski's transfer. People, including you, would have gotten hurt."

At the mention of Chuck, Sarah felt her heart sink. "Where's Chuck being transferred to?" she asked. "I need to talk to him. I'll go with him."

"Mr. Bartowski is no longer your concern," Beckman said. "Agent Rodgers has the situation in hand. We're shutting this operation down. Your assignment is officially over. Major Casey is going to escort you to Langley for a psychological evaluation. There's a plane waiting for you both at LAX. Once he's delivered you to Langley, he will be given his next assignment. Agent Walker, I'm afraid that you're going to be staying at Langley for a while."

Sarah slumped in her seat. She had heard all about what went on at the Psychological Ops Group at Langley from other agents whispering to her. Once the CIA suspected that an agent's loyalty was in question, you were much too dangerous to be allowed to walk the streets. But good field agents didn't grow on trees. They were incredibly valuable. The agency had invested far too much in your training to simply kill you. So the 'doctors' at Langley were given an opportunity to 'rehabilitate' you, of course all in the name of the greater good. Their methods were legendary… and somewhat less than gentle. Isolation, drugs, electric shock, and even worse things… whatever it took they were more than willing to go there. Making it through the CIA Academy was tough. Only about one in every group of twenty trainees ever became a Field Agent. To graduate, you surely had to do some unpleasant things. But at Langley, they really didn't have much to lose. To make it out of there you had to prove to them that you were broken… that you would blindly follow any order you were given. Sarah had heard the horror stories of the ridiculous things they would make you do to prove yourself. "For a while," Sarah openly mocked as she spat at the monitor. "Until I'm a brainwashed obedient yes-girl, you mean?"

Beckman ignored her question. "Once the doctors are convinced that you're capable, you'll be given your next assignment," she said.

"So," Sarah said. "You lied to my face. So much for loyalty. Maybe you should report to Langley for some leadership evaluation. I demand to talk to Chuck right now."

"It was for your own good," Beckman said. "We couldn't have you running with him. Agent Walker, nobody would win in that situation. I'm afraid that you're not in much position to demand anything. I know that this is hard, but you need to face facts. You're never going to talk to Mr. Bartowski again. The sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be. Major?"

Casey reached over and grabbed Sarah's arm to help her to her feet. She jerked her arm out of Casey's grasp and turned to fully face the monitor.

"General Beckman," she said forcefully.

"Yes, Agent Walker?"

"Fuck you!"

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck finally woke up, he clearly found himself riding in a plane. He looked around and saw that it was, indeed, a private jet. There were about ten seats. He was the only one in the cabin. He was totally unsecured… but then again, where was he going to go? They were four miles up in the air.

"How are you feeling? Is your stomach upset? Sometimes the drug will do that."

The woman's voice came from somewhere behind him. Clearly he was wrong about being alone. When he looked behind him he saw her walking towards him. He had to admit that she was one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen. If not for Sarah, she probably would have been the most beautiful. Except that she was the opposite of Sarah in almost every physical aspect. Her shoulder length dark brown hair shined in the light as it framed her face beautifully. She was a little on the short side, maybe a few inches over five feet. She had a light, almost delicate complexion. But the first thing that you noticed about her was her amazingly beautiful light blue eyes. She was dressed in what Chuck had lately come to realize was the standard agent uniform, a white button up blouse, with hardly any of the buttons actually fastened, and a navy blue skirt.

She was beaming her biggest smile at him. "Hi, Chuck," she said. "My name is Hannah, Hannah Watkins. I'm very happy to finally get to meet you. I've heard so many good things. Would you like something to drink?"

Of course the intersect knew all about Hannah Watkins ten seconds after seeing her. The fiasco inEgyptwas pretty famous. She actually looked pretty young to have been in so much trouble. He simply frowned at her… and ignored her question. "Where are we going?" he asked.

Hannah's smile never faded, but she shook her head. "Sorry, Chuck," she said. "That's classified. Suffice it to say that we're going to our new home. What can I get you to drink? There's beer, or soda, pretty much any brand of liquor. I understand that you've been drinking a lot of rum lately. Would you like some? If I do say so myself, I make a pretty mean rum and Coke. I'll be happy to join you. Nobody likes to drink alone."

Again, Chuck ignored her question. "I want to talk to Sarah," he said forcefully.

That caused Hannah's smile to fade, a little. "I know," she said. "Trust me, Chuck. I understand. But I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible. Agent Walker is on her way to her next assignment. I'm your new handler."

"Agent Watkins," Chuck said as firmly as he could. "I want to talk to Sarah right now."

"It's not Agent Watkins," Hannah said as her smile returned in full force. "Not yet anyway. It's just Hannah. Chuck, I know that this is hard for a civilian to understand. But situations change. And handlers change to meet those situations. Where we're going, you don't need an agent to protect you. Agent Walker is far too valuable a resource to waste in this situation. She needs to move on to her next assignment. And I'm perfectly capable of meeting any of your other needs. I get that this is a big change for you. If you'll just work with me a little, I'll try and make this as easy on you as I possibly can. Believe me, anything that Agent Walker did for you, I'm more than willing to do as well. All you have to do is cooperate a little and I think this could work out well for everybody. Try me."

"I get it," Chuck groaned. "This is the standard CIA seduction routine. As long as I behave, I get sex. Is that about right?"

"Well," Hannah said as her smile turned into a grin. "I probably wouldn't have said it quite that bluntly. It makes me sound more like a hooker than a potential CIA Agent, but okay. Would you like that? Think of me as a personal assistant… with benefits, sort of a perk of your new job. And it's more than just sex. Yes, I'm willing to do pretty much anything you want, in pretty much any way you want it, but I'm also willing to be your friend. Everybody needs a friend, Chuck. Don't you want someone to talk too? Someone's shoulder to rest your head on after a long day? Someone to share a laugh with? Someone who gets you? I can be that for you. I'm been told that I'm a very good listener. The CIA went to a lot of trouble to make sure you're as comfortable as possible. I love Science Fiction movies. I'm actually getting pretty good at Call of Duty. Did Agent Walker ever play video games with you?"

"I want to talk to Sarah. Please, what would it hurt to talk to Sarah for five minutes?"

"Here's the deal," Hannah said. "I didn't want to have to tell you this. But Agent Walker doesn't want to talk to you. She left very explicit instructions that after the handoff, she didn't want any further contact. She wanted to move on. Don't you want to respect her wishes?"

"What about Casey?" he asked. "Can I talk to him?"

"Major Casey is also in route to his new assignment," she said. "If you were to cooperate with me, I might find a way for you to talk to him for a few minutes sometime in the next couple of weeks. Would that be okay?"

"Great," Chuck said sarcastically.

"Come on, Chuck," Hannah said, in an encouraging tone. "I know this is hard, but make the best of it. I understand that some of this is uncomfortable, but there are some good things about it too."

Chuck looked out the window. All he could see was the tops of the bank of clouds. "What are the good things?" he asked sarcastically.

"Chuck, look at me," she said. When he did, he quickly realized that she had unbuttoned the remaining buttons on her blouse. She hadn't taken it off yet. It hung on her shoulders, but her practically transparent bra… and her implication… was quite clear. He quickly turned his head as the redness swept up his neck.

"Are you trying to hurt my feelings?" she asked with a smile. "Don't you find me attractive? I want you to know that there aren't any cameras in here. Whatever happens for the next hour will be just between us. Admit it, things could be a lot worse. I'm not exactly threatening to water board you here. Not to appear boastful or anything, but a lot of men would eagerly snap up the deal that I'm offering you. So, do you want a drink first?"

"Or something else?"

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as General Beckman ended her conference, the man who had been standing just out of range of the camera came and sat down in front of her desk. He started playing with an old fashioned cigarette lighter, almost annoyingly constantly lighting it and then putting it out again. "You did well," he said. "Even I almost believed that you were on board with this."

"Well, I'm not," Beckman said angrily. "Not even a little bit. This is wrong. Not only does it border on being illegal, it is lousy strategy. We're taking our best team out of the field exactly when they're needed the most. Not to mention that we've probably just ruined our very top agent. It's not a very loyal way to repay her amazing dedication."

"You do realize that these orders come from the very highest level?" he asked with an edge. "I just came from the Vice President's office an hour ago."

"The Vice President is not the Commander in Chief," Beckman growled. "In fact, he has no authority in this matter whatsoever. I was led to believe that this order came from the President."

"Relax," he said as he continued to play with his lighter. "He is well aware of the situation."

"I don't relax," Beckman said firmly. "I never have and I'm not about to start now. You should be aware that I'm going to go to Langley personally and make sure that Agent Walker is treated fairly. I've heard horror stories about their techniques. I'm not about to see one of my people put through that."

"That's not a good idea," he said. "Don't worry about Agent Walker. I'm going to Langley and am taking charge of her evaluation personally."

"Agent Shaw," Beckman growled. "Let's fully understand one thing. I'm holding you personally responsible for Agent Walker's well being. If something happens to her, you'll be dealing with me."

Daniel Shaw leaned forward and grinned as he gave his lighter a final flick. "Don't worry about Agent Walker," he said.

"She's going to be in very good hands."

x-x-x-x-x

"I can't believe you would tranq me. After being together for two years, I thought we had more than that going."

Casey was silent until they got outside. "Look, Walker," he said as he turned her around to unlock her cuffs. "Think about it. She was issuing me a direct order. There was no way to refuse. If I disobeyed she would have known right away. She would have both of us in cuffs before we made it out of Castle."

Sarah still wasn't convinced. "What are you saying?" she asked as she rubbed her wrists.

"That you'd better start thinking more like an agent and less like a worried girlfriend if you ever want to see him again," Casey growled as he handed her back her gun. "We have an hour, two tops before they figure out that we're not going to show up at LAX or Langley and have sanctions out on both of us. Anything you need from your place, you have an hour to get it. After that, we're off the grid with shoot-to-kill targets on our backs."

"This is treason," Sarah said softly. "Why don't you just tell them I escaped?"

"No kidding?" Casey replied sarcastically. "Treason? I didn't know. Are you going to quote me the regulations from the Military Code of Conduct?"

"I didn't mean to insult you just then," Sarah said softly. "I'm sorry if it sounded like that. I just want to get this on the table so there's no misunderstanding about my intentions. I love him. I'm afraid I can't explain it to you any better than that. Hell, I didn't even really know myself what it meant to love someone just a few days ago. But now I do know what it means and I no longer care who finds out. In fact I feel like shouting it."

"Understood," Casey said. "But lovesick Sarah isn't going to find him, Agent Walker is."

"You don't understand," she said. "There's no longer any difference between the two. I don't want to live without him. I don't like myself when he's not with me. That means I will do absolutely anything to get him back. Casey, listen to me. That wasn't hyperbole. I mean literally anything. There is no person… or no institution that is going to stand in my way and live to tell about it. From this point forward, my new rules are that I don't have any rules. When we find someone who knows where he is, I'll do whatever it takes to get them to tell me in the shortest amount of time possible. That might get messy. If you're not completely on board with that, or you're going to get squeamish on me, now's the time for us to part company. No hard feelings."

Casey just grunted. "We're wasting time," he said. "I have a bag with some of the stuff we're going to need in the car. But we need weapons and money if we're going to have a chance to find him. I understand the no-rules thing, but we have to be smart about it."

"Take me to my place," Sarah said quickly, wincing a little at his lecture. "I have money. Then we can stop by your place and pick up some weapons. Do you have any idea where Chuck is now or where they are taking him?"

"She wouldn't tell me a thing," Casey said. "Only that he's going underground. She must have half suspected that I might do this. She mentioned an Agent Rodgers. I don't know who that is. I'm assuming that he's a CIA agent."

"He must be Mark Rodgers," Sarah said. "He's been working out of the L.A. area for about a year. I know him a little. Carina and my CAT Squad worked with him on a mission a few years ago. Carina made quite an impression on him if I remember right."

"Who wouldn't she make an impression on?" Casey said. "Okay, maybe we'd better start by seeing what Agent Rodgers knows. Maybe we'll get lucky."

As Casey turned to get in the car, Sarah grabbed his arm. "Casey," she said. "I need to say something. Thanks. I'm sorry that I doubted you."

"Like I would let those sick bastards at Langley have a shot at you," Casey growled. "I have just one request."

Sarah looked at him.

"When we rescue his sorry ass, give me a chance to turn my head before you go all lovesick girlfriend on him," he said. "That way, I can keep my lunch to myself."

Sarah actually smiled in spite of herself… a little. "You love him too, don't you?" she said. "Okay, you have a deal. I have a request of my own. Nobody shoots Beckman but me."

"I don't love him," Casey protested. "I think I'll leave that part all to you. That's not why I'm doing this."

"You and Chuck are my team," Casey continued in response to her look. "Spies don't have families. Your team is about all you do have. Besides, he's served his country with honor and to the very best of his ability. He's not going to be treated like this, not on my watch."

"You know," Sarah said. "I actually thought your request would be for me to help you get revenge on Carina for that incident last year in your bedroom. I would have. You're absolutely right about what team means. It means that to me too."

"Okay," Casey said, with as much smile as he ever exhibited.

"Make that two requests."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was as angry as he had ever been in his life. So angry that he didn't even mind the fact that she was standing there more or less in only her barely there bra and that it didn't hide a thing. "Okay, Hannah," he said, "if that really is your name. Button your damn shirt back up. You did a pretty good job at studying my file. It was pretty decent mission prep. I'd give it a solid B+. The Call of Duty thing was a nice touch. But if you actually knew me at all, you'd know that I'm never going to respond to getting sex in exchange for something. That's pathetic. It not only makes you sound like a hooker, it makes you the very definition of one. Listen very carefully to these next words so that I never have to repeat them. I'm with the most wonderful woman in the world, we're engaged to be married, and I would die rather than betray her. Do we understand each other?"

"Okay, Chuck," Hannah said as she began to refasten the buttons. "I'm just trying to do my job. Don't get angry."

"Don't get angry?" Chuck repeated incredulously. "What planet are you from anyway? What color is the sky in your world? I'm minding my own business and all of a sudden I get tranqed and find myself on a plane with some agent wannabe with more boobs than brains who tells me that this is my new life and to make the best of it. Well guess what, Hannah Maybe-Someday-if-She-Humps-Enough-Men-She'll-Become-Agent-Watkins? I'm not about to make the best of it. As a matter of fact, I'm probably going to pretty much make the worst of it until I get to talk to Sarah."

"Chuck," she said. "Please calm down. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"And another thing," Chuck said as he continued his rant. "I don't believe for a second that Sarah doesn't want to talk to me. I'm absolutely sure that you're lying when you say that she is on her next assignment. And I'm one hundred percent positive that she is franticly searching for me right now as we speak. Do you understand me?"

Hannah just nodded.

"One last thing," he said. "I know Sarah. And if I was you I'd request an immediate reassignment. Because when she does find me, she's going to show you the substantial difference between an agent wannabe and the very best field agent in the world. I seriously doubt that you're going to come out of that without some serious bruises and multiple contusions, quite possibly a concussion. Are we clear?"

Hannah sighed. "Yes, Chuck," she said. "We're clear."

"Good," Chuck said. "Now I'm thirsty. I'll have that Coke."

x-x-x-x-x


	3. Flying Solo

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_Some adult content in this chapter, mostly language._

**Flying Solo**

x-x-x-x-x

Casey and Sarah sat in the car just outside of Agent Rodgers house. It wasn't Casey's Crown Vic, much to his very clear and just as vocal displeasure. But they had to quickly dump that and get a car that every agent west of the Mississippi wouldn't be looking for. They settled for a grey Civic. It was much smaller than Casey was accustomed too, but it was all the chop shop had available. Naturally, Casey made no attempt to hide his annoyance at driving such a small vehicle. If Sarah noticed Casey's wistful look as the guy drove off his beloved Crown Vic to be cut up for parts, she didn't say anything. After all, she had bigger things on her mind.

They knew that they had to act fast if they had any hope of finding Chuck before he was transported. Sarah saw first thing when she opened the door to her hotel room that someone had clearly been there, because Chuck's bag was missing. That was a bad but not totally unexpected sign. It meant that this operation had been well planned… and they knew that Chuck had spent the night last night. It also meant they had probably been under surveillance every since they arrived in Houston.

"Why don't you wait in the car?" Sarah asked. "This might get messy."

"I thought we've been through this," Casey grumbled. "Okay, so Agent Rodgers loses a finger or two. You don't think I've seen that before?"

"That's not what I'm talking about," Sarah said. "I'll do that if I have to, but that would take too long. I know this guy. It might be faster if I can appeal to his… other sensibilities."

Casey's could feel the blush rise up his neck. He turned his head away from her so she wouldn't notice. "Really?" he asked. "Okay, you do what you have to. But that works better with a bad cop. I love being bad cop."

"Fine," Sarah sighed as she opened the car door. "I just don't want to hear any complaints from you about losing your lunch."

x-x-x-x-x

Mark Rodgers loved being a CIA Agent. It was even more than that. He loved every single thing about it. He loved that he didn't have to go to an office. He loved being around all the hot woman. He loved the fact that he sometimes got to shoot bad guys. And yes, he even loved that he was doing a good thing. Well, let's not over do it. He didn't mind that part.

But Mark had to admit, he really wasn't loving the situation he was currently in, hands cuffed behind his back, fastened to one of his kitchen chairs. In other circumstances, he wouldn't have minded the view so much. After all, Sarah Walker was the hottest of the hot. But right now she was hot in a completely different way. "What makes you think that I know anything about your asset?" he asked.

Sarah clearly had decided that she wouldn't be able to pull off believably trying to flirt to get the information out of him, because she certainly wasn't flirting. She did stop her pacing like a caged lioness long enough to glare at him but it was Casey who finally answered. "Come on, Mark," he said sarcastically. "Did you really think that we wouldn't check the address where his service call was for? Pretty sloppy to have him come to your house. Now where is he?" Thankfully Morgan had access to the service call address.

"Come on," Rodgers said. "You know that I don't know. And even if I did, I can't tell you."

"That's your call," Casey said. "We all know how this works. But before we begin, there is something that I think you should know. Agent Walker here is taking this situation more personally than most. It seems that he was more than just her asset."

Rodgers turned to look at Sarah skeptically.

Sarah took offense at the skeptical look and stepped directly in front of him. "That's right, Mark," she said. "I'm crazy out of my head in love with him. You got a problem with that?"

Rodgers couldn't hold in the laugh. "That's funny," he said. "Come on, Sarah. Word on the street is that there's a serious debate about if you even like men. I'd say the current odds are about 60-40 against. Do you really expect me to believe that you're in love with that… that… I don't know… that geek?"

Sarah smiled sweetly… then she turned and delivered a vicious back-leg kick to the middle of his chest. It sent the chair, with Agent Rodgers still in it, sliding across the room. He ended up on his side, still attached to the chair.

"Hey," Casey said. "I thought I was the bad cop here."

Sarah ignored Casey for the moment. She got down on her knees and put her face next to Mark's. "I suppose it's true that I don't like a lot of men," she said with mock sweetness. "In fact, I'm not liking you very much at this particular moment. But 'that geek' is a significant exception. He's actually a pretty amazing man. So it pisses me off when people who don't know him disparage him by calling him names. He prefers nerd… and yes, I love him very much, so much that I don't want to live without him. Unfortunately for you that means I have nothing left to lose here. I don't necessarily dislike you, Mark. I mean, you're a decent agent. I enjoyed working with you. There was even a time, if you had respectfully asked me out for a nice dinner and some dancing… I might have said yes. I'm not really looking forward to cutting off your fingers one at a time. But I will if you make me. Thinking anything else would be a serious miscalculation on your part. So why put us both through that? Talk to me."

"Come on, Sarah," Rodgers said with a groan as tried to shake out the cobwebs. "Be reasonable. I don't know much. And you know that I can't tell you. Duty… and all that. Besides, I'd get suspended."

"Nobody knows we're here," Sarah said. "I have no intention of ratting you out. Trust me, no one would listen to me anyway. I just want to know where he is."

Rodgers got a gleam in his eye. "What's in this for me?" he asked.

"You mean besides keeping your fingers?" Casey asked.

"Get real," Rodgers said. "By the time you got the information out of me that way, it would be worthless to you. If you're going to do anything with it, you need it quickly. I think that's worth a little something from Sarah. Don't you agree?"

Sarah looked at him for a long moment. She really wasn't liking where this was going. "Just what are we talking about here?" Sarah asked. "I said I might have gone out with you once for dinner and dancing. But that was a few years ago. And okay, if we had gone out five years ago and had a real good time and you didn't act like some macho pig trying to get me naked that first night like most men do, maybe I would have agreed to another date. I maybe could even have seen a chance of a little make-out session on your couch eventually. But I think your ego is causing you to read a little more into that than you probably should. Things are different now. Maybe if you know where he currently is and were willing to help us get him back that might make a difference. Do you?"

"I'm not looking for anything like that," Rodgers said. "Don't get me wrong, that would be great… but I don't see it happening in exchange for the little I know. No, I don't know where he is now. But I do know where I took him and the name of the agent that I turned him over to."

"That's something, but not a lot. What do you get?"

"Carina Miller," Rodgers said. "I tell you the name, you set me up for a night with Agent Miller, and neither of you were ever here tonight. Works for me."

Sarah thought about it, for about a second. "Understand something," she said. "I was her team lead at one time, not her pimp. She doesn't sleep with who I tell her to."

"She doesn't not sleep with who you tell her to either," Casey mumbled, more to himself that anybody.

"That's true," Sarah responded to Casey with the beginnings of a smile. "Good point." Then she turned back to Rodgers. "By the way," she said. "If you ever get the chance to place a bet on the question if I like men, put a lot of money on the affirmative. That geek as you call him does things in bed that simply defy description. After we rescue him, maybe I'll have him give you a call. If you do happen to ever get a shot at Carina, word has it that you could use a bit of improvement in that area. Trust me, it's the only way you're getting a second shot."

Casey couldn't keep in the laugh.

"Okay, Mark," Sarah said. "Give me what you know and I can probably call in a favor and get her to take you out for dinner and drinks."

"After that, you're flying solo."

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah Watkins sat in the room that would be her new home for… well as long as she was effective. Hopefully, that would be a long, long time. After all, the alternative was not very good. The room would never be confused with a five star hotel. But it was actually fairly comfortable, for being inside a facility that was designed to survive a direct nuclear hit.

She had just left her new asset in his own new room to finish his lunch. She wanted to offer him some dessert, but she knew better. He had made his position on that very clear in the plane. Hannah had never been shot down like that before. And frankly, it was just as well. She didn't know how much more of his pleading to talk to Agent Walker she could take.

She had never met Sarah Walker, but she certainly knew her by reputation. That made it all even much more unbelievable. _How could such a top echelon agent like Walker possibly be so head over heels for such a… well, a nerd? And how do I get through to him?_

"This is not that bad, is it?"

Hannah jumped. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man enter the room. "It'll do," she replied, not wanting to let him see that she was rattled.

"Well," he said impatiently. "Are you going to keep me in suspense? How did it go?"

"You were right," Hannah sighed. "He shot me down cold."

His smile was really more a gloat. "Don't look so disappointed," he said. "I think that you're actually starting to enjoy losing these bets to me. What did he say?"

"All he could talk about was that he wanted to talk to Agent Walker," Hannah said. "Just what is it that's so special about this guy anyway?"

Shaw shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "That's strictly classified. Suffice it to say that he's important enough that the President knows him by name. If you can make him happy, it would go a long way towards you being Agent Watkins again."

"Can't we let him talk to her for five minutes? It sure would make things easier."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he said. "It wouldn't help. Our only hope is to make him believe that she's moved on. Besides, she's on her way toLangleyas we speak. I'm sure you know what that means. I think they're going to give her your old room."

At the mention of Langley, Hannah became noticeably nervous. "Shaw," she said. "I can't go back there. Please, you know that I'll do anything."

"And you know exactly how to keep that from happening," Shaw replied. "Talk's cheap."

"But he's not interested," she protested.

"Come on," Shaw said. "Why does it always have to be sex? Be his friend. Tell him that you're on his side. Appeal to his sense of pity. Cry a little. Hell, cry a lot. Tell him that if you fail to get him to cooperate, you're going back into rehabilitation training. It won't even be a lie. Get him to like you, and then fall in love with you. Sex will be the final nail. I can't wait to show Agent Walker the video of you two going at it. Talk about the final nail…"

Hannah gathered her composure. "I'll do my best," she whispered.

"Not good enough," Shaw said with a smile. "Failure is not an option. Now," he said as he took off his tie. "I believe you have a bet to pay off."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Casey sat in the car outside of the secured tarmac at LAX. Unfortunately, they were staring through a chain-link fence at an empty section of cement. The plane that Agent Rodgers had delivered Chuck to was no longer there.

Sarah was having some trouble hiding her disappointment. "He's already gone," she sighed.

"It was a long shot," Casey said. "I've never heard of a Hannah Watkins, have you?"

Sarah thought about it for a long moment. "I've never met Agent Watkins, but I have heard of her. I'm surprised that they would let her get anywhere close to the intersect. She got herself into a lot of trouble. Remember that mission inEgyptlast year? I heard she got decertified over it, probably spent some time in Langley herself."

"That was her?" Casey asked. "There is only one reason they would let her close to him. He doesn't need an agent for a handler when he's underground. He needs a baby sitter, someone to get him to cooperate. They want him happy and controlled. They're making her reprove herself by screw…" Casey's voice trailed off into an awkward silence.

"It's okay, Casey," Sarah sighed. "You were going to say that she's going to prove herself by screwing him into submission. You're probably right. That's most likely her assignment. Hell, two years ago it was what I was supposed to do."

"That would be a big temptation," Casey said softly. "It goes without saying that she's drop-dead-gorgeous, all of you ladies are."

For the first time today, Sarah's smile was genuine. "You don't know him," she said. "You don't understand what we have… and I can't begin to explain it to you, but it's not happening. Agent Watkins might have had a bad experience inEgyptlast year, but I would bet my life that she's wishing she was back there right about now. He would die before he willingly betrayed me like that. I have zero fear about it. I just really need to see him."

Casey just really needed to change the subject. "So," he said. "What's next?"

Sarah sighed. "There's only one person I know who knows where he is. We're going to have to have a little chat with her."

Casey did a double take. "How are you going to get Beckman to tell you anything? I seriously doubt that she would take your call. Her office is in the Pentagon itself. We're on the run. We have targets on our backs the size on a barn."

"All that's true," Sarah agreed. "But then again, we are the very best spy team in the world, they would never expect us at the Pentagon, and I have a plan. But first we need to get there. Drive us to San Diego."

"San Diego?" Casey asked incredulously. "What's in San Diego? It's going in the wrong direction."

"I know," Sarah said. "We need to cover our tracks a little. We're going to have to repeat a trip I made a couple of weeks ago. We need a plane quickly… with no connection to Sarah Walker. There's one waiting for us in Houston."

"Assuming we make all that happen," Casey said. "How are you going to get Beckman to talk?"

"Actually, I'm not," she said. "You are." Responding to his look, she just sighed. "Come on, Casey," she said. "Be a spy. And besides…"

"Everyone talks. You know that."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He already had the look of the ceiling committed to memory, which wasn't hard since it was plain, smooth and white. Oh, the room was comfortable enough. They had gone to great lengths to not make it look like a cell. It had it's own private bathroom, complete with a tub and separate shower stall. There was a computer, a big screen television with a nice selection of his favorite movies, and even a video game system. All in all, it was much nicer than his room.

But it was still a cell.

He was too depressed to look around. All he could think about was Sarah. Was she free? Was she even still alive? If so, she must be frantic right now. Chuck knew that if it was at all possible, she was desperately searching for him. Chuck knew that she would never give up. But how could he help her find him?

Of course, the first thing that Casey had done when he met them in Houston was to hand him his new watch and cell phone. But they were missing when he woke up in the plane… and certainly wouldn't be returned.

The computer had internet access, so that was a little hopeful. But Hannah had already warned him that most sites, including any possible email site, were blocked. She told him point blank that every keystroke and mouse click would be closely monitored and if he was caught trying to contact anybody on the outside he would immediately lose the privilege. But there had to be a way. After all, he was supposed to be smart. Maybe it was time to prove it.

"Chuck, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Chuck was so into his thinking that he didn't ever notice her come in. He was very surprised at her tone. Gone was the confident, flirting sexpot from the plane. She actually sounded sad, vulnerable even. But he still wasn't all that happy with her, and that was quite the understatement. So he didn't move or look her way. "What do you want?" he asked with a sigh. "Do you want my opinion on another one of your see-through bras? Let's save the trouble. I'm sure it's very nice."

"I guess that I have that coming," Hannah said sadly. "Look, Chuck, I just wanted to apologize. I've never been turned down like that before. I didn't mean to offend you. Most men would have liked what I did in that plane. That's just a fact."

"I guess that I'm not most men."

"No kidding," Hannah said sarcastically with just the hint of a smile. "I understand that you're angry. You're being held here against your will. I get it. Nobody would like that. But, Chuck, I'm not the bad guy here. That wasn't my decision. The powers that be are doing this because they think that it's for your own good. There's nothing I can do about that. If it's not me, they'll just send someone else. This is the situation that we're both in. It does make some sense to make the best of it, right? I will honestly do whatever I can to help you. If sex isn't going to help, what would?"

"You could let me talk to Sarah for five minutes," Chuck said sullenly.

"Okay," Hannah said. "I'll ask."

Chuck's face brightened and he sat up and actually looked at her for the first time.

"I'll ask," Hannah said cautiously. "I'm not promising anything. What I told you in the plane wasn't a lie. That's what they are telling me." Of course it was a huge lie. There was no one to ask. "I need you to do me a favor too."

Chuck's eyes narrowed. "What favor?" he asked suspiciously.

Hannah paused for a long moment. "I'm in trouble, Chuck," she finally said. "On my last mission, I sort of screwed up. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if I don't do well with you, I'm out."

Chuck thought about it for a second. She obviously didn't know that the intersect had already told him all about Egypt. That meant she probably didn't know about the intersect at all. But at least, something that she said was finally the truth, at least partially the truth. "You're not supposed to tell me?" he repeated incredulously. "Do you expect me to believe that? Can't you see the camera pointed right us?"

"The cameras are turned off when I'm in here," she said. "That was the deal I agreed to. After all, I'm supposed to be… well, what most men would have me doing right now is something that I'm not eager to be caught on tape. And they know that you wouldn't be comfortable if you knew you were being watched either. They really want you to be comfortable, not afraid to ask for anything." Of course that was another total lie. In fact, if she could get Chuck on tape in an intimate situation for Shaw to rub in Agent Walker's face and demoralize her, it would go a long way towards being called Agent Watkins again. And there was almost nothing she wouldn't do to make that happen. And as far as not wanting to be seen, well, modesty about sex or being seen naked had never been one of her hang-ups. It made her very popular in school… and life so much easier at the academy. "Okay, Chuck, so I messed up. But I really am on your side. For one thing, it's my job to make you happy. Could we maybe start over? If I ever do anything to make you uncomfortable, tell me and I'll stop."

Chuck sat and thought about it for a long minute. Oh, he didn't believe a word of anything that she just said. But if he could gain her confidence, maybe she would let slip something that he could use. After all, Sarah would need all the help she could get. "Understand something," he finally said. "We're never going to be anything more than friends."

"I understand," she said so softly had he almost couldn't hear her.

Chuck had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. A CIA Agent crying, that was about as believable as Lester's online dating profile. But he could play her game… for a while anyway.

"Okay," he said as he got up off the bed. "Why don't you sit down and tell me about yourself?"

Instantly, her face turned into a huge smile. "Thank you, Chuck," she said as she plopped down in the chair that he indicated.

"You're welcome."

x-x-x-x-x


	4. Behind the Woodshed

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_Some adult content in this chapter, mostly language._

**Behind the Woodshed**

x-x-x-x-x

General Beckman was sitting at her desk when the door flew open. "Agent Shaw," she said firmly. "What a… surprise. Don't you believe that it's customary to knock before you burst into someone's office? What can I do for you?"

"Why do you have an appointment to see the President this afternoon?" Shaw asked. "Does this have something to do with Agents Casey and Walker?"

"You can't just shoot them on sight," Beckman replied angrily. "I won't stand for that. I should have talked to him earlier. I just assumed that he was aware of the situation."

"They are traitors," Shaw replied sarcastically. "Just what do you expect? Should we give them medals?"

"They're not traitors," Beckman said forcefully. "They're patriots. They're doing what they believe is their duty. It was totally predictable. I tried to tell you this would happen. We need to convince them that if they surrender, we'll work out something with their asset."

Shaw stood and thought for a long moment. "That might work," he finally said. "They might trust you. Can you convince them? That would be the way to capture them."

"I won't participate in any scam," Beckman growled. "These are my people we're talking about. The honest truth is that I'm proud of them. Besides, they don't trust me right now anyway. You've made sure of that."

"So," Shaw said. "What is your plan?"

"They'll trust the President," Beckman said. "I'm going to tell him the situation and ask him to make an executive order. They might trust that. The current situation is far to fluid. I don't think you have a clue how dangerous Agents Walker and Casey are. There's no limit to what they might do."

"I'm sorry, General Beckman," Shaw said. "I can't allow that to happen. I think that your pride has you overestimating their abilities. Sure, they're competent agents. But against the entire government? They'll be in custody soon."

Beckman actually grinned. "And how exactly are you going to stop me?" she mocked. Then she looked down and saw the dart sticking into her shoulder. Just before she felt the blackness overtake her, she heard Shaw's cryptic reply.

"Any way I have to."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Casey sat in the car in front of Carina's condo. It had been a long two days. By the time they drove to San Diego and then chartered the flight to Houston, the plane rental place had closed. So they had to spend the night. Naturally, they were trying to keep as low of a profile as possible. That meant a cheap motel in the red light district that would take cash and didn't ask questions.

The first night together was a tad on the awkward side. Their natural cover was as a couple and getting separate rooms would have drawn attention, so they went with a single. Of course, they were both professionals that were used to being undercover. But still it was awkward, especially in the morning at shower time. Thankfully, when it was Sarah's turn Casey went to get them some coffees.

Even worse was renting the plane in Houston. The clerk obviously remembered Sarah's brutal put down. Of course had only been a few days ago. And it wasn't something that a man was likely to soon forget. So he was going to insist on the full two day waiting period. Sarah had to do a lot of flirting to get him to finally agree to waive it. She even had to offer to take him out for dinner, dancing, and the implication of much more when she returned in a week. Thankfully, the odds of that actually happening were somewhere between slim and none, and much closer to none.

Sarah flew to a rural airstrip in out state Virginia, about a hundred miles from Washington. They, or more specifically Sarah Conner, rented a car and drove the rest of the way.

"Let me get this straight," Casey said. "Your plan is to get Beckman to meet us at a restaurant? Why would she do that?"

"She wouldn't," Sarah said. "She is going to meet Carina. Or at least she thinks she is. We'll take Carina's phone. I'll text Beckman that she's heard the rumors about Walker and Casey and wants to know the true situation. She'll ask Beckman to meet her off the record at a restaurant. She probably will."

"She might," Casey agreed. "And she might also see through it. Beckman is smarter than you give her credit for."

"I know," Sarah said. "That's why we'll pick the location, and be in position to scout it out before I go in there. If it's a trap, we'll keep driving."

"So that's why we're here," Casey said. "We need her phone."

"Why else would we be here?"

"I was sort of hoping that we could get my revenge," Casey said with a sigh. "But it's okay. The mission comes first. I get that."

Even in the bright sunny day Sarah's eyes lit up the car. "Relax," she said. "Why can't we do both?"

Casey's lips turned into a grin as he heard Sarah continue.

"And trust me, that's not all you're going to get."

x-x-x-x-x

The Vice President sat across the desk from Agent Shaw. "This is getting serious," he said. "Why did you arrest the General? What are we going to do with her?"

"She was threatening to contact the President," Shaw said. "I really had no choice. We can't have her talking to him until we're ready to move. Don't worry, where she is now she isn't going to be talking to anybody."

"Agents Casey and Walker are still running loose," the VP said sadly. "This is becoming a nightmare."

"Don't worry," Shaw said calmly. "Why is everyone so impressed with two lone agents? How long can they last with the entire government looking for them? Once we have them, the fun will start."

"Fun?" the VP asked. "You mean kill them, right?"

"No," Shaw said. "Well, we can kill Casey. But we need Walker alive. We can play them against one another. We need Bartowski. He will do anything to save her and Walker will do anything to save him. When I said fun, I actually meant it. I have some… activities in mind for them to prove that, especially Walker. It's perfect. We couldn't have planned this any better if we had tried."

"Maybe," the VP muttered.

"But first you have to catch them."

x-x-x-x-x

Even if Carina hadn't gotten the flash alert from Beckman that Agents Casey and Walker were on the run and to be arrested on sight, she knew that something was wrong the second she saw Sarah's face at the door. It wasn't that she didn't trust Casey, she just didn't completely trust him. And she completely trusted Sarah. So she found him a piece of apple pie while she talked to her friend.

Sarah led Carina into her bedroom while Casey sat at the kitchen table, gratefully enjoying his pie.

"Okay," Carina said after Sarah told her the story. "Let's go. I'll get my gun and my purse."

"You can't go with us," Sarah said. "Come on, Carina. You know that. We're rogue… off the grid. You heard Beckman. There are sanctions on both of us. Helping us in any way would be treason. You'd just end up in Langley yourself. You're going to have to report us as soon as you're free. Tell them that we stole your ID and phone."

"Free?" Carina questioned. "Free from what?"

"I'll text Zondra tomorrow," Sarah said. "She can come over and 'find' you and set you free. It's for your own good."

"I get it," Carina sighed. "You're going to cuff me to one of my kitchen chairs."

"Well," Sarah said. "Not exactly."

Carina did a double take at the mischievous tone in Sarah's voice. She knew that tone well… she had heard it many times and she never, ever liked it. "Not exactly," she repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Maybe there's part of this that isn't totally for your own good," Sarah said with a smile. "You cuffed Casey to his bed wearing nothing but his boxers. Remember that? I sort of promised him I'd help him get even. It's the only thing that he asked me for before he threw his career away to help me find Chuck. Do you have any boxers here? If not, that's okay. Casey brought some of his."

"Sarah," Carina pleaded as her eyes widened in shock as the realization of what Sarah was saying sunk in. "Please don't let Zondra find me cuffed to my bed naked. She'll take pictures and make them into Christmas Cards. I won't hear the end of it for years."

"You won't be naked," Sarah reassured her. "I wouldn't do that to you. Don't forget, you'll have his boxers on, remember? I'm afraid that you're right about Zondra. Knowing her, that's the least she will do. She'll probably make you… well pose before she agrees to let you go. I would expect to see her pictures posted on internet before the day was over. But that only seems fair, after the pictures you took of her that time, right? She's been looking to get back at you about that for a long time. I have to admit, something about that seems like justice to me. Maybe it's karma."

"Casey's boxers?" Carina groaned. "Sarah, please, they'll be ten sizes too big. Without being able to use my hands I'll never be able to keep them in place for a whole night."

"I do see your point," Sarah said with mock sweetness. "You're probably right. I'm sorry, Carina, but that's not really my problem. Look on the bright side. At least your knees will be covered, right? After all, fair is fair." Sarah paused and flashed an evil smile at her. "Of course, unless you can think of… well… some other way to make things right with Casey."

Carina's perplexed look quickly turned into a grin. "Some other way… Sarah, are you telling me that I have to have sex with Casey?" she asked.

"Of course not," Sarah insisted. "I would never tell you who to have sex with. We both know that's completely your decision. But now that you mention it, he might enjoy it. After all, you must have led him to believe something was going to happen to get him naked the first time, right? That's probably why he's so pissed at you. Men don't like to be teased. It's like a slap at their manhood or something."

"I wasn't teasing him," Carina protested.

"I'm afraid that Casey doesn't see it that way," Sarah insisted. "But you probably could convince him if you really tried. If you put your training to use and made a full effort into making sure that he had an amazingly good time or two, he might actually forgive you enough to consider you even. That would work for me. Let's face it, Carina. You've never been all that particular about whom you would have sex with. Besides, what's wrong with Casey? For some reason he's really attracted to you. He may not be my type but he has everything that you and Zondra would always go off every night looking for in a man… a pulse. It would be a way out of our current… situation. But only if you're comfortable, of course. That's totally your call."

Carina looked at her skeptically. Of course Sarah was only pretending to give her a choice here. They both knew that she was really giving directions that she expected to be followed and, like always, she could either do this happily or do this unhappily. She might as well play along. "There's nothing wrong with Casey," she quickly protested. "I actually might like sleeping with him. I might like it a lot. I didn't mean it like that. I had every intention of spending the night with him that time. The cuffing thing was just a crime of opportunity. It seemed funny at the time. I'm really sorry if he didn't see the humor in it."

"That's good," Sarah said in a mock businesslike tone. "So maybe this won't be such a chore for you after all. But understand, I have some, well, some additional rules of engagement of my own that I'll need to insist that you respect. There will be no sleeping involved here. We only have an hour to spare. Oh, and we still have to do this mission tonight… so it would be good if whatever you do Casey didn't have to exert himself at all physically, if you know what I mean. He's not getting any younger and I don't want him exhausted. If I failed to mention it before, I'm really not all that interested in you enjoying yourself in this process. That's sort of the whole point. I mean, where's the revenge if you're having a good time too? This has to be all about Casey. Tell me, Carina. Given that criteria, am I making my expectations at all clear, or do I have to get even more graphic? Trust me, I will."

It was hard to make Carina Miller blush, damn hard. But the red was clearly up her neck and reaching her face. "No, Sarah," she groaned. "You're being clear… disgustingly clear."

"Great," Sarah said sweetly. "Now that we have that settled…"

"Wait a minute," Carina said suspiciously. "I haven't agreed to anything yet. Sarah, I know you. Why are you really doing this? Since when do you care so much about making one of Casey's lifelong fantasies come true?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed but her smile never faded. "How do you know that it's his lifelong fantasy?" she asked. "Have you already had this discussion? If not you're kind of full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Trust me," Carina said. "What you're insisting that I do is every man's lifelong fantasy. Now, what's with the sudden interest in Casey's sex life?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked innocently. "Casey's my partner. I think you know what I'll do for a partner. He was seriously wronged. He deserves some measure of revenge, don't you think?" Sarah paused for a long moment. "And, Carina," she continued. "As long as we're having this little chat, there is something else that I've been meaning to ask you. Did you try and seduce Chuck when you met him last year? He says that you did. He said that you told him that you enjoyed taking things that I wanted. That doesn't sound very nice. Was he lying? It's sad. I never imagined that Chuck would ever lie to me like that."

"Ah," Carina sighed as her grin returned. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere. I get it. This isn't really about Casey at all is it?"

Sarah's smile told her that she had hit pay dirt. "Maybe not totally," she said. "But as long as you have to be taught a lesson anyway, why shouldn't my partner benefit? Spending an uncomfortable hour on your knees begging for his forgiveness seems like a pretty mild punishment to me."

"So Casey isn't the only one getting some revenge here," Carina said with a laugh. "You're jealous… and I'm being taken behind the woodshed. Okay, fair enough. You do realize that Chuck turned me down cold, right? As long as we're negotiating here, if I do get down on my knees and umm… beg for Casey's forgiveness, you have to admit to me that you've fallen for Chuck. That's fair."

"We're not really negotiating," Sarah said. "But if that's all you want, I'll gladly admit it. Isn't it fairly obvious? I no longer care who knows. It's worse than you were thinking. I'm trying hard not to panic here but it's really hard. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making him as happy as I possibly can. I love him so much that it hurts. Anybody that gets in my way is going to find themselves quickly wearing a toe tag. And as soon as I find him, the first thing I'm going to do is drag him off someplace and get married. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Carina was quite frankly stunned, but also strangely incredibly happy. She had never heard Sarah say anything remotely like that. The look in her face was plain. Sure, there was a lot of concern in those eyes. But there was also a certain peace that had always been missing. Sarah Walker was clearly in love. The only problem was that women in love really didn't make good agents. After all, that was the first rule. But her friend was happy, that's really all that mattered. "Yes," she said softly. "It was. I'm very happy for you. Maybe when you do drag him off somewhere I could be there. I'd like that. Just so that I understand, if I perform this… service and rock Casey's world for an hour, does that make you and I even?"

"Well, no," Sarah said with her own grin. "Not quite. It actually turns out that Mark Rodgers is very attracted to you as well. Remember him? Maybe you should consider dressing a little more conservatively and all these men wouldn't want you so much. Anyway, I may have sort of promised him a night with you in exchange for some information."

That got a laugh. "Wow," she said. "And here I didn't think that you were all that interested in sex. You're turning into quite the pimp. If you never make it back as an agent, maybe you could move to Vegas, acquire a stable of ladies, and work the strip. Chuck could be your office manager. I understand that he's quite good with computers."

"First off, I'm not a pimp," Sarah protested. "Second, I think you may have a serious misconception in this area. I've always been plenty interested in sex. I've just always wanted it to be with one man. I've found that man now. And let's be totally honest here. You're interested in sex enough for the both of us… and then some. You and Zondra were enjoying your little contest of seeing which one of you could tease Agent Rodgers the most on our mission. It bordered on unprofessional. It might be a good gesture for you to go and take him out to dinner to apologize to him. Tell you what I'm going to do… I guess it would even be okay for you to enjoy yourself a little with Mark, if you can. Oh, and if you could tell him after you… well rock his world, not to call you again until he gets some nerd lessons, it would really help me out. It's somewhat of an inside joke between Mark and me. Once you complete that mission, then we're even."

"Fine," Carina sighed again with her grin still evident. "I'll do it. Send Casey back. Are you sure you don't want to stay and watch? I think maybe you could use some pointers."

"I don't think so," Sarah said as she turned to leave. "I got all the pointers on that subject that my stomach could handle in seduction training. Don't forget, one whole hour and this only works if you can get Casey to forgive you so I would be my most sexy, seductive, persuasive self and make sure that Casey gets an hour that he'll never forget. I'll be in the living room. Don't worry about him making noise. I'll turn the TV up really loud, but please, please keep the door closed. I know how you love to shock me but I have no desire to see any of this take place. Oh, and Carina…"

Carina's smirk told her to continue.

"I hope that you realize that as far as punishments go, you're getting off incredibly easy here. An hour is all I have to spare right now or we'd be talking some serious assignment. There was a time not all that long ago when I seriously wanted to see you suffer. But I've cooled off a little. Actually getting together with Chuck helped me to calm down… a lot. Now I realize that you weren't really trying to hurt me. I'm just frantic to get him back. Don't let the smile on my face fool you."

Carina looked at her friend. "Come on, Sarah," she said softly. "You know that I would never do anything to actually hurt you. I was just looking for intel. You were acting so strange."

"Okay," Sarah said. "That's what I figured. But understand something. Chuck tells me everything, even things that I don't really want to know. And if Chuck tells me of anything even remotely like that ever happening again, I'll find something really disgusting for you to… umm… do to gather intel. Remember that guy Morgan that you went out with on a double date once with Chuck and me?"

Carina nodded cautiously.

"Well," Sarah continued. "I know this guy named Jeff who makes Morgan look like Tom Cruse. I'm pretty sure that he's never had a devoted girlfriend dedicated to serving his every whim for a whole month before. Who knows what fantasies are in that twisted imagination of his? It makes my stomach turn over a little to even think about it. That would be some pretty interesting intel for you to be required to gather. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sarah," she sighed. "We're very clear. Keep my hands off Chuck."

"Actually," Sarah said with a grin. "It would be much better if you kept your everything off Chuck. If you promise to do that, and complete your other two assignments, I'll make sure you're there when we get married. Deal?"

"Deal."

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw sat in his office watching the scene on the monitor playing out before him with a sigh. Hannah was a masterful seductress. Oh, she hadn't gotten close to anything approaching intimacy. But she was making some headway in the friends department. Every day, he was opening up a little more to her. After all, that was the only way to get a man like Bartowski between the sheets. First he'd have to trust her.

But at least he was starting to look at the files they had given him. Most of the stuff so far had been tests, just to see if he would flash… and tell them the truth about what he saw. But then again, he probably was cooperating just to get out of his room for a bit. After all, it couldn't happen in front of anybody without the proper clearance.

"I don't understand," Chuck said in frustration. "What could possibly be the harm in letting me talk to her for five minutes? I thought you said that you would ask?"

"I did ask," Hannah insisted. "Chuck, please don't be mad at me. I asked so many times that I got in trouble. If this was my decision, it would be easy. But it's not. They're telling me that she doesn't want to talk to you. I'm sorry."

When Hannah reached over and rubbed the back of his neck, Chuck noticeably stiffened.

"I'm sorry," Hannah said quickly. "I forgot. You don't want me touching you."

"Thank you," Chuck said.

"I wasn't trying to come on to you," Hannah said with a smile. "Okay, so maybe you've noticed that I'm a flirt by nature."

"I do think I've noticed that," he said.

"I admit that," she responded. "I always have been. Most agents are. Isn't Sarah?"

That finally got the smile she was looking for. "Not really," he said. "At least not when she's being herself. I do understand what you're saying about agents. Most of the ones I've met are flirty."

"Sarah must be special," Hannah replied. "It would be hard to get through the Academy without being comfortable flirting with men."

"She's very special," Chuck said so softly that she had to strain to hear him.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Hannah said softly.

"I can't tell you how much," he sighed.

"Look, Chuck," Hannah said. "Let's put some cards on the table. Yes, it's my job to make you happy. Okay, so you don't want the things that most men want. I get that. I'm trying hard to respect it. But I'm also not made out of stone. I don't want to see someone I like suffer. That's not really fair. So please don't get mad at me if I put my hand on your neck, or grab your hand. It's nothing sexual. It's just my way."

"I guess," Chuck said. "But we can't cross…"

"If I ever come close to crossing your line," Hannah interrupted with a grin. "Don't get mad. Just tell me. I'll stop… promise."

Shaw had seen enough so he clicked off the monitor. Yes, she was making progress. But it was too slow. He needed to be broken by the time that Walker was captured. He needed something to make that happen.

Shaw wasn't sure what that was yet. But he did know one thing for sure. He would find it.

He always did.

x-x-x-x-x

"Where is he, Casey?" Sarah asked softly. "It's been a week."

Casey did a double take at the vulnerability in her voice. This was not the bold, confident Agent Walker that he had been used to seeing. He knew that he had to do some pretty fast talking or she was about to do something stupid. Well, make that even more stupid. They had already done plenty of things that a rational person would call stupid… like trying to capture a Three Star General. "We'll find him," he said. "Let's go over everything that we know again, just to make sure that we aren't missing something."

They were in another of those run down, budget motel rooms. They had been on the run for their fifth day now. And honestly, they were out of options. Or more specifically, they were now openly admitting it. They had truthfully been out of options a couple of days ago.

Sarah's plan hadn't worked out nearly as well as she hoped. Beckman hadn't shown up at the restaurant. Her Chief of Staff did. They both knew Major Collins. They both liked him. He wasn't a spy, not at all. He was a pure military paper pusher, administrative type. He was the type who could quote regulations by heart. He told them that Beckman was missing and he didn't know where she or the intersect was. They really had no choice but to believe him, at least after they scared him to death by threatening to cut off a couple of his fingers.

Once they calmed him down, he did tell them that he suspected that this Agent Shaw person that Beckman had been meeting with a lot was probably behind all of this. The problem was that neither Casey nor Sarah had ever heard of any Agent Shaw. And the one resource who would know him, the intersect, was unavailable.

But that was two days ago. And to be honest, they didn't have a single lead.

"I'm never going to see him again," Sarah said, more to herself than Casey.

He knew that the very last thing that Sarah Walker would ever want to do was cry in front of him. So he turned his head to allow her to gather her composure. The problem was she didn't gather her composure.

"Two whole years," she softly sobbed. "I've wasted two whole years. Now they're gone."

Comforting crying women was not Casey's thing, especially not Walker. She was the toughest person that he knew. To see her so broken was tough. So he did what John Casey always did in a tough situation. He got tough back. "Explain something to me," he said. "How is sitting around here crying about your situation going to find Chuck? He is out there someplace, and he needs Agent Walker to help him. He doesn't need some sobbing little girl who is sitting around feeling sorry for herself."

Sarah just sat staring into space for a long moment. And as she sat, an involuntary smile eventually came to her lips. "You're right," she finally said. Then her smile turned into a grin. "I would have thought that your hour with Carina might have mellowed you a bit, but you're right. I said that I would do anything to get him back. It's time to prove it."

"So," Casey said, fighting the urge to laugh. "What do you have in mind? You do realize that I'm going to tell Bartowski that we've been sleeping in the same bed?" It was true. There was only one bed. They both slept in it. But never together, eww. They slept in shifts.

"I don't have a fucking clue," she sighed. "But anything beats just sitting here. Go ahead and tell him. You do realize that I'm going to tell him the entire story of your revenge on Carina? I might even reenact my interpretation of what probably happened for him."

Well, that predictably shut him up. Just then, Sarah's phone rang. They looked at each other in shock.

"Who would have your number?" Casey asked.

"No one," Sarah replied. "This is a prepaid phone that I bought just in case. I've never made a call on it. I don't even know what the number is myself. It must just be a wrong number."

But when Sarah picked up the phone, there was a text message on the screen.

_Agent Walker, if you want to find Mr. Bartowski, meet me at the Aztec hotel in thirty minutes._

_There will be instructions for you at the front desk._

_Come alone._

x-x-x-x-x


	5. The Playbook

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_All of my stories start with a single vision. This chapter is the vision that this story is written around._

_Warning, this chapter has adult themes as Sarah is faced with deciding what she's willing to do to save Chuck. Nothing too graphic or outside the guidelines for a T rated story, but proceed at your own discretion. _

**The Playbook**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sat in the parking lot of the seedy run down motel just as the sun was setting trying to think of her options. She didn't have many. One thing was for sure. She was totally on her own. There was no way for Casey to help her. He didn't know where she was. She wasn't even totally sure herself. This mysterious man had set this up brilliantly.

Naturally Casey insisted on going with her to the hotel. He was going to wait outside, ready to come in with guns blazing at the first sign of trouble. But whoever this was, he had some impressive surveillance. Because she had just barely entered the hotel lobby before her phone rang with another text.

_We agreed you were to come alone. I want us to be friends but don't try my patience. One last time, take Agent Casey back to your motel and come back in ten minutes. This will be your last warning._

So she did. Casey didn't like it. She wasn't wild about the idea either, but what choice did they have? The directions in the envelope that she was given at the front desk when she got back led her on such a twisted drive that she was no longer sure where she was. But one thing was clear. If she went into that room, it was going to be totally on his terms. That is if it was even a man… and there was truly only one. This could very well be a trap.

Who knew who this guy was, what he knew, or more importantly what he wanted? After all, everybody in this business had an angle. Sarah already had a creepy vibe and nothing so far had done anything but to reinforce that. For one thing, why would he want to meet in a motel room, especially alone? She trusted her spy instincts and something was definitely not right here. She had been a spy long enough to know what spies meant by being friends. In this business when someone said they wanted to be your friend that usually meant they wanted inside your pants. And this guy, whoever he was, was certainly an impressive professional with plenty of resources at his disposal. The way that he knew how to contact her and track her movements told her that.

Sarah seriously doubted that he was CIA. After all, they would have just grabbed or, more likely, shot her the first time. And if they got Casey in the same operation, so much the better. No, he definitely wasn't CIA. Fulcrum was far more likely. After all, who knew what resources they had? They were certainly interested in the intersect. They desperately wanted him. Fulcrum's only hope of wining the war was to get the intersect. There was almost nothing they wouldn't do to make that happen. Perhaps they wanted her to get Chuck to cooperate with them.

And that made things a little dicey. It was true that Sarah wasn't happy with the government right now. But she also wasn't ready to start working directly with the enemy. And one thing was pretty obvious. This wasn't someone doing her a favor. If this guy was going to tell her anything about Chuck… he was going to demand some price. They always did.

But at the end of the day, she realized that it didn't matter. This guy knew something… or at least he claimed too. And whatever price she had to pay to find Chuck, she knew that she would pay it. She would die before she would ever turn him over to Fulcrum to be tortured. But if it meant doing some other work for them, well she might be willing to hold her nose and do it. If it meant… other benefits, well she said she would do anything. It was looking like she might get a chance to prove that. She might have to hold her nose for that too. But first he was going to have to prove that he could help get Chuck back. Then they could talk about his… payment. So she cautiously got out of the car and knocked on the door.

Sarah was more than a little surprised when the door opened. She was expecting an agent, dressed in the typical agent dark blue suit. Instead, stood a pretty normal looking man wearing a plaid flannel shirt and jeans. What wasn't surprising was the gun pointed directly at her chest.

"Agent Walker," he said. "Please slowly put your hands on top of your head and step inside."

Sarah took a moment to more fully assess the man as she carefully complied with his instructions. He was an older man, hard to tell how old. He looked to be maybe in his early fifties. He had medium brown hair, a little graying at the temples. He certainly didn't fit the typical Fulcrum Agent profile. He was actually pretty harmless looking, except for the gun, which he honestly didn't look all that comfortable holding. "I thought that you said you were a friend?" she said.

"We'll see," he said. "Maybe you'll think so in a while. Maybe someday we'll even become much more than friends. But for right now I need to make sure you don't do something stupid. Let's face it, you don't trust me… and frankly I don't trust you yet either. So we're going to take this slow. Please take your left hand and slowly put your gun on the table."

So now Sarah's alarms were ringing off the hook. Both her spy… and horn dog alarms. _Much more than friends?_ She had heard enough cheap come-ons in her life that she had a pretty good idea what that meant. Why did all these ridiculous men think that once they got you in bed, you'd instantly love it so much that you would fall in love with them? The way that he was smiling at her was more than a little unnerving. He was clearly confident that he was in control of the situation. But then again, she really didn't have any choice. His gun was pointed directly at her. So she slowly reached behind her and grabbed the gun from the small of her back and placed it on the table. She tried to make sure that she kept the relaxed smile on her face to let him know that she wasn't intimidated. "I'm not used to my friends pointing guns at me," she said. "That's more what I would expect from an enemy."

"I'm not an enemy," he said as he carefully grabbed her gun off the table from where she had just placed it. "I just don't want you misinterpreting something and doing anything rash. Let's face it, Agent Walker. You're currently emotionally on the edge. You're not thinking all that clearly. Who knows what you're capable off right now?" He indicated a chair at the table with a nod of his head. "Please sit down," he said. "I have something that I want to show you. I think that you might just like it."

There was really no reason not to follow his instructions. After all, his gun had him totally in charge of this situation. As soon as Sarah sat, the man slid a laptop computer towards her. There was a video playing. Sarah's eyes widened and her heart skipped more than a single beat as she recognized what it was. Her Chuck was lying on his back on a bed in what looked to be some sort of cell. It was clearly recent because he was wearing a white t-shirt and his flannel pajama pants from Cancun. His arms were folded behind his head. He looked bored… and incredibly sad. "Where did you get this?" she immediately asked.

The man didn't answer her question. He just smiled. "Not just yet," he said. "I think that this calls for a good faith move on your part. Don't you agree? How about you take the holster of knives that we both know are strapped to your thigh and sit them on the table for me?"

Now Sarah wasn't so sure what this guy was really after. After all, he made no attempt to look up her skirt as she reached under it to remove her knives. She was looking to gauge his reaction and made sure that he would have a really good view if he wanted it… but nothing. Not that it meant much. Maybe he was just waiting for a few minutes when he assumed he would have her skirt lying on the floor in a pile along with the rest of her clothes for the totally unobstructed view. Unfortunately, that was looking more and more likely.

As soon as Sarah put her knives on the table he picked them up and put them on the other side of the room. Then clearly confident that she posed no further serious threat, he turned away and pulled the curtain aside to peek out the window into the growing darkness. "We haven't talked about what I get out of this," he finally said without facing her. "After all, I have needs of my own. That only seems fair."

Sarah's head shot up as did the hair on the back of her neck. Her heart also sank into her stomach. This was exactly what she was afraid of. It was times like this when she wished she was wrong sometimes. These men were so predictable.

"I'm going to need you to provide me with somewhat of a service," he said, still looking out the window. "I hate to force you into doing something you clearly don't want to do like this but, let's face it… it's the only way you would ever agree. I'm afraid my request is rather personal in nature. You're probably going to hate it. I don't really blame you. It might get a bit uncomfortable for you. But this is something that I've really fantasized about for a while now… and, after all, you are getting a lot in return."

Sarah's shoulders noticeably slumped. At least now her suspicions were confirmed. "Can you get him back for me?" she sighed. "That's the only way I'm doing this."

"Yes," he said. "I can… or at least we can together. If you and I got together for a while I think our partnership would be most impressive. That's the whole point isn't it? So, do we have a deal?"

There it was. He had her completely at his mercy, and they both knew it. This guy clearly knew where Chuck was. If she wanted his help, and she most desperately did, there was nothing to do except give him what he wanted in whatever way he wanted it. Unfortunately, the way he was phrasing it didn't sound like he was asking for just straight sex. It was always the quiet ones who were the most wild.

"Perhaps it will work out so well that you won't want it to end," he said hopefully. "I know that you're committed to someone else… but perhaps we can find a way to get together again."

Sarah's heart sank as she listened to him. He was proposing something long term. Then she sighed as she thought of how very much her life had changed. After all, two years ago his wanting her in bed would have been good news. It would have meant that Agent Walker would have known exactly what to do to complete her mission. She was somewhat of an expert in this area. She had attended hundreds of hours of training on this very subject. It was plain what this situation called for. This wasn't even a tough call. She should become the aggressor, control the agenda, and seduce him. Hell, Carina would already be half naked.

After all, that's what CIA agents did. She could make him want to help her. She could make him, if not fall in love with her, at least be eager to do anything she would ask, including helping her save Chuck. And she would do that by putting on a performance that he would remember for the rest of his life. She would do whatever it took to make sure that he had the night of his wildest fantasy. She knew the drill, hell she had sat in enough lectures and done enough field work on the subject. There was a complete multi-step process that had to be followed very precisely. Every detail had been planned for.

The first step was to get him interested in the first place. That was usually the hardest part. Coming on too strong would just tip him off that you were manipulating him. After all, he had to think that your going home with him was his idea. Fortunately most men were all over you without you having to do anything, like this guy was. But there were many techniques if the guy decided to play hard-to-get.

Once you got him home, the next step would be to convince him to relax. These guys were usually pretty untrusting. Usually the initial make out session where she would encourage his hands to wander would be enough to tell him that this was going to be his night. But sometimes they were a little skeptical. That was only natural. So she would prove it to him by plastering that sexy smile on her face and dance seductively for his amusement as she slowly unbuttoned her blouse.

After he was hooked, the rest was easy. Once the sight of her barely-there bra had his attention, she would smile softly, push him to sit on the bed, and look directly in his eyes as she slowly took off the rest of her clothes.

The next part was the harder. Different men all had different hot buttons. Some men wanted you to be bashful and submissive. Some men wanted you to be aggressive and slutty. Some men wanted a show. Others wanted you to tell them a story. Your job was to figure out what would drive him crazy and then do it.

You were conditioned to realize that the sex was going to be pretty lousy. Even in the highly unlikely event that you were in any kind of mood to want any pleasure yourself, you had just basically ensured that he would be far to excited to last very long that first time. That was by design. But no matter, it wasn't your pleasure that was important anyway. You were working… on behalf of the greater good.

Of course, all that was assuming that the mark didn't ask for something specific. They hardly ever did, at least not that first night, not with words anyway. For one thing, that would be considered somewhat of a failure. It was your job to control the agenda, anticipate what he wanted, and give it to him before he asked.

But no matter what he asked for, the soft contented smile would never leave her face. All the while she would be studying his reactions, each time learning from his body what particular things turned him on the most, and then use that knowledge to improve her performance each time as she submitted to him over and over again in every way physically possible.

With each subsequent round, as he tired, she would take on more and more of the physical effort, giving him an evening that he would never ever forget. With some men, the second time was enough. Most men could be coaxed into three with a little effort, a rare few could handle four, but no matter how many times it took, the objective was to get him so satisfied and exhausted that he couldn't move or even remember his own name.

Of course the final step was to thank him for such an exciting night, promise to make him even happier tomorrow and for as many nights as it took, and then ask him to do her this one small favor. Naturally, he would be very eager to do that favor for her, almost no matter what it was. He would betray his country or his cause, tell her where the bad guys were, who his supplier was, where the bombs were hidden, whatever else she wanted to know. Or in this case help her rescue her asset. Often she wouldn't even have to ask.

That was pretty much the Reader's Digest version of the CIA seduction playbook. It was absolutely infallible. It may have been developed by men. But it had been perfected by hundreds of female agents over the course of many years. Men were simply defenseless against it when it was executed properly by a beautiful agent… and there really weren't any other kind. It was the number one thing that you learned in agent training. It became your main weapon in the field. After all, you could lose your gun… but you could never lose that.

You simply didn't become a certified CIA agent until you passed seduction school. It may sound easy, like what a million women did every night in a bar or what a hooker would do, but it was anything but easy. In fact seduction school had very little to do with sex. They already assumed that you knew how to do that. It was much more mental than physical. For an entire eight weeks you did nothing but study the playbook. You thoroughly learned it, watched dozens of field videos and studied hundreds of scenarios to understand how far to go in every possible circumstance. You also had spent countless hours practicing. If you were at all bashful about showing your body or talking about sex, you sure as hell weren't after those eight weeks. Not with a classroom full of ten fellow trainees and two instructors watching videos of your lab exercises and critiquing every detail of each other's performances. It simply wasn't a place for modesty.

To graduate from seduction training you had to prove that you could execute the playbook flawlessly. You had to go into a bar and pick up an instructor playing the role of a mark… who had no intention of making anything easy for you. Then you had to get him home and spend an entire weekend playing him. It wasn't even unheard of for the instructor to find some petty reason to fail you, just to get you for another whole weekend. Roan Montgomery was actually pretty famous for that move. Thankfully, Sarah didn't draw him for her final exam.

She herself had used the playbook before. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't even really sex. It was just part of being a spy. It had saved her life… and her mission, more than once. There was even that one time when it saved Europe from some very bad guys getting their hands on a dozen or so nuclear weapons.

There was a problem tonight however. And it was a big, big problem. She had just watched a video of her big problem. She was no longer Agent Walker… at least not like that. Mentally, she now thought of herself far more as Sarah Bartowski than Agent Walker. And Sarah Bartowski was head over heels in love with the man who was going to be the father of her children.

That one simple fact had ended her career as an effective agent. She certainly didn't have casual sex with some strange man that she had just met an hour ago. Sure, it was true that this was somewhat of a special case. She was still willing to do anything to find and rescue Chuck… and humping this old guy into submission was not even all that close to her limit. But it was something that she definitely wasn't looking forward too… and she knew that she could no longer believably pretend that she was. She clearly couldn't pull off the seduction playbook tonight. He would see right through her.

Try as she might to think of something, there was simply no good way out of this. Pleading with him probably would just make him want more of a conquest. She thought briefly about the possibility of trying to negotiate something with him. But the fact of the matter was she didn't have anything to negotiate with… and they both knew it. She was clearly going to do whatever he demanded anyway. Pissing him off by trying to bluff would just make him think of more degrading… activities.

So it was probably better to just accept her fate, pray that he was satisfied with only one time with a minimum of foreplay, and allow him to think that he had won a huge victory. That was probably the quickest way out of this. Just shut up and take off her clothes, lie there on that bed wearing nothing but her smile, and let him do whatever he had in mind. If she was lucky he'd be content with the one conquest and would require a minimum of participation from her. If she wasn't lucky… well, she'd have to play that by ear. At least then she would have something to negotiate with. If he wanted it again, and he always did, she would be in a position to get something from him.

She wasn't even worried about the sex… much. She knew that she could block it from her mind. After all, hopefully he was going to do all of the work. She was worried most about what to tell Chuck about this. He would be sure to ask and she also knew that she could never keep something like this from him. Hopefully she would be able to tell him that it was just a meaningless physical act - quick, impersonal… and only the one time.

That got her thinking. That last night together in Cancun she had offered to tell him anything he wanted to know, and she truly would have. But as it turned out neither was all that interested in talking much that night. Someday very soon she was going to have to sit him down and tell him about her training and life as a spy, including the other few times that Agent Walker had used the seduction playbook on a mark. There had been a couple, including the one nightmare time that had lasted for multiple days.

Sure, hearing about that would bother him… some. Hopefully the fact that she was willing to share her past with him so openly would more than make up for it. But whatever, she just wasn't going to keep any secrets from him… not anymore. There was simply an undeniable truth here. Whatever she was, she was now totally his. The very least he deserved was to get honest answers with no detail omitted for any question that he would ask… and even the uncomfortable ones that he didn't know about enough to ask.

She may have done some things with marks in her career that would make him wince. But at least those other times were before they were together. Tonight with this guy would be different. This would hurt him, maybe even haunt him. She was having a hard time blinking the tears out of her eyes just thinking about it. She would just have to ask him to let it go… and do whatever it took to help him through it. She was confident that he would do that for her… but it definitely was a conversation he should never need to have.

But first, she had to find him and rescue his sorry ass before she could worry about any of that other stuff. And there was currently only one hope of doing that. After all, what choice did she have? She didn't have a clue what to do next to find him. Even Casey admitted that. She tried to think of what Chuck would say right now if she could ask him. She knew that he wouldn't want to make her go through this, but bottom line, he would agree that it was worth it.

But she couldn't talk to Chuck. She had no idea where he was right now… and this guy did. If it only took ten minutes on her back, that was an acceptable price. "Fine," she sighed. "You win. If that's really what it's going to take. I told you that I'd do anything to get him back. And I will… even that. I hope you're not looking for any enthusiasm from me. And not to ruin your mood or anything, but could we please just get this over with? I'm in sort of a hurry. I assume you'll use a condom."

When the man turned back to face Sarah, she had already set her blouse on the table and was reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra. "Agent Walker," he said firmly. "Please put your shirt back on. I assure you, it's nothing like that."

Then he turned away again, almost bashfully averting his eyes. "I'm very sorry that I gave you that impression," he said softly. "That was my fault. I guess I understand now what I must have sounded like. I sincerely apologize. But the truth is I'm very happily married. I don't get to see her as often as I'd like but still... And I know that you think that you're pretty bad-ass. You are, I suppose. But trust me on this one. If my wife ever found out that you took your shirt off in front of me or what you're suggesting, she'd show you a real bad-ass. First she'd kick your ass all around this room. Then she'd kick my ass. Then she'd kick your ass again. And so on, repeating the process until her point had been clearly made to both of us."

Sarah was very relieved as she sheepishly put her blouse back on… clearly embarrassed, but also relieved. "Okay," she said. "I'll admit I'm pretty confused. Then what is this personal service you want that I'm not going to want to do?"

"Again, I'm really very sorry," he said. "That sounded awful, didn't it? Look, it's pretty clear that he is desperately in love with you. I also know that his sister is your best friend. That's actually even more impressive. She doesn't have many close friends. You and she share a pretty strong bond. In Cancun, you looked more like sisters to me than just friends. I'm quite confident that you can talk them both into anything."

Now Sarah's alarms were going off again. Just who was this guy anyway? How did he know about Cancun? Not even Beckman knew they were ever in Cancun. Did he want to use the intersect for some evil reason? Had Cole been captured? But what could he possibly want with Ellie? Leverage on Chuck? On her? Then again, the man was once again completely right. She absolutely knew she could talk either of them into anything. She would also do almost anything for the chance to be able to hold Chuck in her arms again and be in a position to talk him into something. Actually that wasn't true. It wasn't _almost_ anything. It was absolutely anything. "Okay," she said cautiously. "That's probably true. What is it that I'm going to talk them into?"

"I need an hour with them," he said, "with a truly open mind. They're not that happy with me right now. I have some things to explain to them… sort of my side of the story. I'm pretty sure you can make that happen for me. Like I said, I've been fanaticizing about that for a long time. I'd be very grateful to you for that."

Sarah was still mighty confused. But then he smiled for the first time and extended his hand. "My name is Steven J Bartowski," he said. "I'm Chuck's dad."

"I hope that I can call you Sarah."

x-x-x-x-x


	6. That's Why

_There has always been a debate among my fanfic writer friends on the wisdom of allowing anonymous reviews. I've always allowed them, mainly because I want as much feedback as possible. Reviews are very important to me (and most authors). They let us know if the story that we think we're telling is what is really being heard out there. I've gotten many ideas that have made it into my stories from reviews. And I don't want to deny you the chance to give me that feedback just because you don't have an account or aren't logged in at the moment._

_On the other hand, it is frustrating to not be able to respond to anonymous reviews. And frankly, some of them are mean-spirited and just plain wrong. There is a pretty common theme expressed in a lot of my anonymous reviews (and some signed ones) that I'd like to address here._

_I don't know if real CIA covert agents use sex on missions or not. Maybe they don't. And even if they do, I suspect that it's not something they would be eager to disclose. But let's be clear. I don't really care. Because my stories are not based on the real CIA. They are based on the fictional one created in the Chuck realm. And in that realm, spies clearly do use sex._

_If you think that my description of CIA Agents in the last chapter depicted them as whores and it was not in line with the show, you're certainly entitled to that opinion. But please explain some things to me._

_In Three Words, the main event was a party where Carina was announcing her engagement… to a mark. In the climatic scene, she convinced him that she loved him… and then shot him. How do you think she got engaged to him? Did they meet at the malt shop? Do you really think there wasn't some sex and / or seduction involved? Is my description of the process she might have used really so hard to believe? Is Carina really so different from Sarah?_

_In Undercover Lover, Casey's ex was getting married to a mark. Casey was fine with that. It's what spies do. Are you asking me to believe that happened without seduction and sex?_

_There is also clearly something in the show called Seduction School. Roan was an instructor. He failed Casey twice because his partner was too pretty to pass. What do you think was studied there? Did Roan just like her pretty eyes?_

_I'll agree that we haven't been explicitly told if Sarah ever has slept with a mark on a mission. They have left that pretty vague. You could certainly interpret the missions with Lon Kirk and the mark in Pink Slip as coming close to that. She has certainly regularly been willing to flirt and more with marks. And that vagueness has to be valid territory for a fanfic writer, right?_

_There seems to be a significant part of the fandom that can't handle the thought that Sarah might not have been a virgin when she met Chuck. I get that. I listen to it on forums all the time. These people go a little nuts at the very suggestion that Sarah might possibly have had sex with Shaw, even though they weren't in a relationship at the time… and it was Chuck himself who encouraged her to pursue him. The very idea has them running off covering their ears and calling her a slut. I find it a tad curious that the same group doesn't seem to mind nearly as much the fact that we know for certain that Chuck had sex with Jill and Hannah._

_If you fall in this group, this story is probably not for you. In fact, probably none of my stories are. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd encourage you to find ones more your speed. They're probably written in crayon (I'm just kidding)._

_I prefer to characterize Sarah as I think the show has. A (non-virgin) victim of an organization who takes people and uses their dedication to duty to turn them into less than human. Sarah is a spy who was once perfectly willing to do uncomfortable things with little conscience for what she perceived as her duty, but now realizes that she's changed… and she likes it. Moreover the reason she's changed is that she's finally found what she's been searching for and is in love. She's not totally there yet. In fact, her journey is the main theme of this story, just like I believe it has become the main theme of the show._

_I'm sorry if that characterization makes anybody uncomfortable (Actually I'm really not all that sorry). I think that is, by far, the most romantic story I could tell. Sarah is imperfect. She's not the girl next door. She's done not so nice things but always for noble reasons. She is going to continue to struggle becoming the girl that Chuck wants her to be, not because she doesn't want to. She desperately wants to… because she loves him. She's just not totally sure what to do or how to do it without getting him killed. Ellie was helping her, but she's not available right now._

_She's still willing to make sacrifices that regular people might not be willing to make. Yes, in the last chapter she was reluctantly willing to give up sex to save Chuck. If you think that makes her a slut I think you're being unfair. She clearly didn't want to do it. She misinterpreted what he was demanding… because in her world that's always the first thing that a man would demand from her. And she was willing to do anything to save Chuck. I prefer to think that makes her a hero. And it has nothing to do with being a spy. If Devon's life were in danger, I'd write Ellie as being just as willing. I might yet (probably not in this story though, lol)._

_So let's be clear. I'm not complaining about critical reviews. I'm not. For one thing, the overwhelming majority of my reviews have been over the top positive. I'm a big boy. I can take any and all constructive criticism. In fact, my favorite reviews are when I learn something from them. Some have said that the description of the seduction playbook went on too long. Fair enough. I understand that it was uncomfortable reading about Sarah's past. But it was supposed to be uncomfortable. That was the whole point. It wasn't gratuitous. It was setting up events later in the story that we're only about a third into. _

_If you disagree with my characterizations, storytelling style, grammar, or structure, by all means say so. But at some point this is the story that I'm telling. If you can't enjoy it, the solution seems obvious to me. Writing mean spirited anonymous reviews that simply call Sarah a whore does no good. I've learned nothing by it. All it does is make me wonder why in the hell I spend so much time and effort doing this… and even worse, it's cowardly. If you really want to read a story where the characters are perfect, there is no conflict, and Sarah is a virgin, I'm afraid you're going to have to look elsewhere._

_Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest. If you're still with me, on with the story._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**That's Why**

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah watched the couple necking on the monitor very intently. It was one of the hottest scenes that she had ever witnessed, and that was saying something. After all, Hannah was a cum laude graduate of CIA Seduction School. But these two, their tongues were dancing a mile a minute. The lighting in the room wasn't all that good but you didn't need it to tell they were definitely well past second base. Both already had their shirts off. Hannah watched for a moment as the man reached behind her, unfastened her bra, and tossed it to the floor. Although the woman was facing mostly away from the camera, she clearly could be heard softly moaning as the man unbuttoned and then slid his hand down into her pants. "Is that her?" she asked.

"That's her," Shaw replied.

"Wow," she said. "She's gorgeous. He's not so bad himself. Who is he?"

"His name is Bryce Larkin," Shaw said. "They actually were partners for a couple of years. Rumor has it that they were more than partners."

"Why is she doing this so soon?" Hannah asked. "I thought she was in love with Chuck? That sure didn't take long. Wait a minute, I thought she had gone rogue."

"This tape is three years old," Shaw said. "It was sealed in the mission record. I had a hard time getting a copy. They were in Bogotá undercover as a newlywed couple trying to infiltrate a drug cartel. The targets were getting suspicious and had bugged their room, so they were instructed to put on this little staged show. They knew that they were being watched the whole time. You can tell that Walker knows exactly where the camera is and is making sure that you see just enough to get the point of what's happening and nothing more."

Hannah knew him pretty well by now. "You'd give a month's pay for her to turn and face the camera right now," she said with a grin. "Admit it."

"Why Almost-Agent Watkins," Shaw said. "You almost sound jealous. Don't worry, I promise to let you face the camera soon. Besides, I don't have to give a month's pay. In six weeks she'll be begging me to let her show me everything she has."

"This is fake?" Hannah asked incredulously, ignoring his comment for the moment. "She is some actress. She looks like she is totally into it. Judging by the growing bulge in his pants, so is he. How far do they go?"

"Yeah," Shaw said with a laugh. "Well, he actually might not be acting all that much. Word on the street says that he wouldn't mind still being with her. It's hard to blame him for that. It's also been said that Bartowski is insanely jealous of him. We need to use that to our advantage. It's his Achilles Heel. The video is almost over. It was planned for the phone to interrupt them before they had to go all that far."

"Wow," Hannah said with a grin. "If he ever gets tired of her, send him my way. He's very cute."

"That just might be arranged," Shaw said. "He hasn't been with her in a long time. After you show Bartowski this tape, we'll have Larkin come in and talk to him to seal the deal. Maybe you can be our insurance policy to make sure he cooperates. I'm assuming you'd like that."

"I don't understand," Hannah said. "How is showing Chuck a three year old tape going to help anything?"

"Because," Shaw said as if he was talking to a small child. "Bartowski doesn't know that it's three years old. You're going to tell him that it was intercepted yesterday… on Walker's new assignment."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that actually might help."

x-x-x-x-x

To say that Sarah was floored didn't come close to it. That's what he meant by more than friends. He was going to be family. She felt pretty foolish. She should have noticed the resemblance in their eyes right away. And she called herself an agent… "Of course you can call me Sarah," she said as she numbly shook his hand. "Look, Mr. Bartowski, I'm not trying to be rude, but right now I'm pretty frantic to find Chuck. Could you please tell me where you got this video?" _Oh my God, I just offered to screw my future father-in-law_. _I just took off my shirt in front of him._ _What kind of slut does he think his son is hooked up with?_

"This isn't a video," Steven replied with an even bigger grin. "This is a live surveillance feed. So, do we have a deal?"

Sarah didn't answer his question right away as the impact of his words hit her. The relief washed over her as she sat there stunned. She had not taken a solid breath or slept for more than an hour at a time for a week worried sick about him. And now here she was, watching her whole world lying there in real time with a bored look on his face. That meant he was alive… and basically well. She could plainly see the lines of worry in his face but there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she could make them quickly go away in just a few seconds.

She knew full well that she didn't have the luxury of being emotional right now. But the ache in her chest was overwhelming. She just couldn't blink all of the tears away as she watched her guy lying there. He looked so damn… perfect. It suddenly hit her how terribly she missed him. She softly reached out her hand to touch the computer screen. Finally she turned to face him… and nodded. "We have a deal," she sobbed.

Steven looked at the tears flowing down her cheeks and sighed. "You really do love him, don't you?" he said. "I'll admit I've had my doubts about that. But it's plain. He's a lucky guy. I'm sorry about pointing my gun at you. I have to be very careful. As embarrassed as I am, I'm actually quite impressed that you would make the kind of sacrifice that you were plainly willing to make for him. But if we're going to become partners and later family, I should also tell you, the CIA is not my favorite organization in the world. I hope that doesn't come between us. Maybe we can talk more about that later, in a calmer time."

Sarah tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes, but it was pretty futile. "Mr. Bartowski, I can't blame you for having doubts," she said. "There was a long time when I wasn't treating him very well. I'm pretty ashamed of that. But at the time I honestly thought I was doing the right thing for him. I love him very, very much. Even that sounds hollow somehow. I don't have the words to describe how I feel about him, just that he is my life. I'm like a different person without him. I don't like myself when he's not with me. I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to prove that to you… because I'd really like your support. And for the record, right now the CIA isn't exactly my favorite either."

He was clearly uncomfortable in knowing how to comfort her. He made a move to reach out and touch her arm… but stopped awkwardly short. "At the end of the day it really doesn't matter much what I think," he said softly. "It looks like he's already made his decision. That's as it should be. I'm honestly not wild about him being with a CIA agent. I know what that's like. But I'll tell you what… I'll keep an open mind if you will. So what do you say? Let's work together and get my son and your future husband out of that cold impersonal place. The CIA already doesn't care for Orion much. Let's give them another reason."

Sarah nodded. Then after a moment the light bulb in her head finally turned on and she remembered last month's briefing. Suddenly everything became crystal clear. Why had it taken this long? It was so obvious. "Oh my God," she whispered. "So you're Orion. You invented the intersect."

"I see that you've heard of the name," he said with another sigh. "Yes, I've been called Orion. You can call me that if you want, or Steven, but I'm really hoping that you can bring yourself to call me Dad someday. Just please don't call me Mr. Bartowski. That sounds way to cold for someone who is going to give me grandchildren. When can I expect them, by the way? And I'm afraid that I didn't invent the intersect. No one person can claim that. I just invented the really cool parts. And about our little misunderstanding here, the thing with the shirt, I'm embarrassed. You probably are too. Do you think that we could maybe agree to forget that ever happened?"

Sarah's smile was genuine… for the first time in, well she really couldn't remember. He was rambling just like Chuck did. That made sense… and it made a little of the hurt in her chest go away. "Yes, Dad," she said softly. "I'd like that very much. I understand why you would be hesitant to have someone you love hooked up with an agent. All I can say in my defense is that Chuck is, and always will be, the most important thing in my life. I'll admit, there was a time in not so distant past when being a CIA Agent was my first priority. That's no longer true. If I remain an agent at all, it will only be because it's the way to better protect him. The very instant that I ever have to choose between it and causing him a single second of discomfort, it's gone from my life with zero regrets. And as far as grandchildren, we really haven't had the 'when' discussion yet. Up till now it's always been a vague in-the-future sort of thing. But I think I'm almost ready now… and I'm pretty confident that he has been for a while. So we just need to deal with our immediate problem. I hope a boy is okay with you. That's what I have my heart set on."

Steven's awkward smile turned into a full fledged grin. "It's been a long time since I've been called Dad," he said. "I can't tell you how much I've missed it." He grabbed her gun from the ledge and handed it back to her. "I really hate guns," he said with a sigh. "But I think you're going to need this."

Sarah stood and placed her gun back in it's normal spot. Sarah Walker was a professional agent. She was completely used to keeping her feelings bottled up. But he was right earlier. She was totally on the edge. She hadn't really slept in a week. And she was suddenly overcome with the feeling of family. She missed Chuck. She missed Ellie almost as much. But here was the next best thing. She herself wasn't sure why, but she put her arms around his neck… and squeezed. "Thank you for reaching out to me, Dad," she whispered. "I know that Chuck and Ellie both miss you terribly. And I didn't know what I was going to do next. It was going to have to be something desperate."

To say that Steven was surprised was a ridiculous understatement. He was so surprised that he really didn't know what to do with his hands. He had come into tonight totally prepared to dislike Sarah Walker. He still didn't like the idea of his son with a CIA agent. Chuck was the last type of person that needed that. He trusted people. And that meant that he was vulnerable and easily hurt. But he had to admit, she was a lot different than he expected… much more human. And she was saying all the right things. Finally he just gave in and permitted himself to tentatively return her embrace. He allowed his arms to rest gently on her back. "You're very welcome," he said. "Let's go and work on dealing with that problem. To be honest, I'm kinda anxious for some grandkids. After all, I'm not getting any younger."

Sarah just finally broke the embrace and grinned.

Steven returned her grin. "And yes," he said. "A boy would be fine to start. I'm assuming that I get more than just the one."

"Hey," Sarah said. "Ellie needs to carry her load a little in this deal. Don't you think?"

After they stopped laughing Steven looked into her eyes for the first time, and realized the shape she was in. "Sarah," he said. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look horrible. When was the last time you slept?

"How could I possibly take that the wrong way?" she asked with mock sarcasm. "I'm sure that you meant horrible in the best possible way."

"Do me a favor," he said. "Lie down on this bed and take a nap for an hour. I'll contact Major Casey and get him over here. You're not going to be any shape to help Chuck like this. This will be one situation where I prefer Agent Walker to Sarah. I need her on top of her game."

Sarah was actually touched by his concern. It was incredibly sweet. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm used to going without much sleep. I'll be able to sleep once I can cuddle with him."

"No," Steven said insistently. "Come on, Sarah. Humor an old man who is going to be your father in-law. We have to wait for the right time before we can move anyway. Consider it an act of trust."

Sarah knew exactly what he was saying. She desperately wanted him to trust her. Maybe she should start by trusting him a little. Sleeping in front of someone was a true expression of trust. That was one of the first rules of being a spy. You were never more helpless than when you were sleeping. "Okay, Dad," she finally said. "You win. That actually doesn't sound half bad. You'll wake me up in an hour?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah woke up the first thing that she noticed was that a comforter was lying over her. It felt warm and, well, comforting. The second thing that she noticed was the sunlight streaming through the window. "What time is it?" she asked as she sat up with a start. "You were going to wake me in an hour."

"I'm sorry," Steven said. "Yes, I did say that. But you looked so peaceful. It's a little after eight."

"I've been sleeping for twelve hours?" Sarah asked in amazement. "I need to call Casey. I'll bet he's frantic."

"Don't worry about Major Casey," Steven said with a smile. "He just went to get us some coffee. He brought your clothes and stuff if you want to take a shower. I'll go next door and give you some privacy. We got another room. After all, this is too small for three people."

"Dad," Sarah said. "Have you been up all night? That makes me feel horrible."

"Don't worry," Steven said with a grin. "I went next door and slept for a while. Major Casey and I took turns sitting with you. We didn't want to leave you alone sleeping so soundly in a strange place."

Sarah didn't know what to say. Thanks seemed pretty inadequate. Fortunately she was spared having to say anything by Casey bursting through the door with four cups of coffee in a tray. "Good morning princess," he said sarcastically. "Or maybe it's sleeping beauty."

Sarah narrowed her eyes as she gratefully took the cup of steaming hot coffee that Casey was holding out to her. "Why four cups?" she asked.

"We're going to have a visitor," Casey replied cryptically. "I'll bet you can't wait."

Sarah turned her puzzled look at Steven. "Don't worry, Sarah," he quickly said. "I'm going to fully brief you. I know that you hate being kept in the dark."

Sarah nodded gratefully.

"Well," Steven began. "They're trying to break Chuck's spirit. They're trying to convince him that you've moved on."

"I was afraid of that," Sarah said softly. "How are they doing?"

"Pretty horribly," Steven said with a laugh. "Our boy is hanging tough. They're actually getting pretty frustrated. But they found this video. It's of you and Bryce Larkin on an assignment a few years ago. They're going to show it to him and tell him it was yesterday."

Sarah instantly knew the video he meant. That mission in Bogotá. That file was supposed to be sealed, but then again, Sarah wasn't so naïve that she didn't know how those things worked. People did favors for their friends. And watching a video of Agent Walker with her shirt off, even if you didn't see all that much, was a pretty hot commodity in agent circles.

She remembered the mission like it was yesterday. She had been so pissed at Bryce that day. Sure, they agreed she would lose her shirt, but sticking his hand down her pants was a definite ad-lib on his part. It was the first time that he had ever allowed his feelings to interfere with a mission. And she made sure it would be his last. She let him know, in no uncertain terms how unhappy she was about it. She didn't speak to him for two whole days after that. And nothing was colder than a Sarah Walker cold shoulder. "Oh no," she whispered. "I was afraid of that."

"Yeah," Steven said. "It's pretty graphic. That's exactly why I didn't want Chuck involved… well, that's history. Anyway, they've ordered Bryce to go talk to Chuck. He's going to confirm that you and he are back together, in more ways than one."

"Sonofabitch," Sarah yelled as her coffee went everywhere. "Wait until I get my hands on that pretty boy jerk who's supposed to be his friend. I'll…"

"Wait," Steven interrupted. "You don't understand. This is a very good thing. It's the break we needed."

"Just how is this a good thing?" Sarah asked. "It will crush him. Dad, he's very sensitive when it comes to Bryce. I was going to tell him all about that video. I was afraid it would come up someday. I just never got a chance. He'll believe what Bryce tells him. This is awful."

"Sarah," Steven said as calmly as he could. "Please wait a second. Listen to me before you panic. Chuck is going to be fine. Do you really think that he will believe that you were necking with Bryce Larkin after he's disappeared for one week?"

In spite of the situation, a smile came to Sarah's lips. "No," she said. "I guess not."

"Of course not," Steven said. "Sure, watching that video will be tough on him for a few minutes. But Bryce is helping us. We're actually old friends. He'll be here any minute."

Right on cue there was a knock at the door. Bryce grinned when he saw Sarah standing there. He held out his arms wide in a clear invitation. Except instead of accepting the invitation, Sarah reached back and threw a savage kick directly into his groin.

Bryce hunched over and grabbed… well, the affected area with both hands. "Why did you just do that?" he groaned in agony. "Didn't Orion tell you that I'm helping you?"

Sarah didn't answer his question, not directly anyway. "Bryce," she said angrily. "When I was in the hospital last year did you tell Chuck that if I had feelings for him I was going to get hurt?"

"Oh," Bryce groaned as he sank to his knees still holding his… umm, injury.

"That's why."

x-x-x-x-x


	7. The Note

_Okay, first off, thanks to everyone to leapt to my defense. I'm not upset. I never was. I just wanted to set the record straight. I understand that people get invested in stories. I've always considered it an honor that someone would get so invested in something that I wrote that it would drive them to be angry about it. I've always recognized my responsibility to look out for you. Yes, we're at a tough spot right now. Things will get better, sooner rather than later._

_I also want to explain about Sarah calling Orion 'Dad'. There have been a few comments that it was OOC. I understand the criticism. I considered that when I was writing it. But I decided that Sarah was emotionally on edge. She hadn't slept in a week. She missed Chuck. She missed Ellie almost as much. She was giddy from the sudden and unexpected good news about Chuck. And here was a connection to her new family. So she grabbed it. I'll have more to say about Sarah and Orion's relationship later in the story. I'm very surprised that the show never had Sarah make a strong connection with Ellie, Orion, or Frost. That seems like a missed opportunity to me._

_Fair warning. I know that some of you think the story has too much sex. But there is some in this chapter. Hopefully it will be okay._

_I hate writing chapters where Chuck and Sarah are apart. I always have._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Note**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah couldn't tear her eyes off of Orion's laptop. She was trying to listen to Chuck and Hannah with her earphone in one ear, while listening to Steven and Casey talk about tonight's plan with the other, and at the same time tune out the sound of Bryce in the bathroom, well, shaking off the effects of Sarah's earlier greeting.

She was feeling a little guilty. Well, that may have been truthful, but it wasn't necessarily accurate. She was actually feeling guilty because she didn't feel all that guilty. As a matter of fact, if anything, the sound of Bryce's retching sort of stuck her as funny. Perhaps it wasn't her proudest moment… but it felt kind of nice. And it certainly entertained Casey.

Suddenly, her attention was riveted back on Chuck. Hannah had just put on the tape.

"You said this was taken yesterday?" Chuck asked sadly as he watched the graphic footage of Bryce and Sarah going at it.

"Yes," Hannah said as she put her hand softly on the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Chuck. I tried to warn you not to watch it. We just intercepted it. They were on an assignment. I'm not really sure who the other agent is. I think they called him Bruce or something. Anyway, the marks had their room bugged. They didn't have any idea they were being watched and our support team didn't have any way to let them know. The team in the van picked up the wireless signal from the bug. When that happens, it becomes part of the mission record, even though they were clearly on, well personal time."

The video ended just before the phone call that actually did end it.

"That's it?" Chuck asked.

Hannah paused for a long moment, clearly for dramatic effect. "That's all they would let me show you," she finally said. "The video goes on for almost an hour. It gets pretty, well extreme. Those two really went at it. They were like lovers who hadn't seen each other in a long time. I think you know that I'm not a prude when it comes to sex, but she did things to him that I've never seen before. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I could ever say that."

"Can I talk to her?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck," she said with a sigh as she playfully gave his neck a rub. "You're so sweet. I know that you don't want to believe this but you're going to have to face this someday. She doesn't want to talk to you. I understand that she's beautiful. Trust me, after seeing her in action naked for an hour, I was feeling more than a little inadequate. I know that she made you fall in love with her. But, Chuck, she was controlling you. She's moved on. That's what spies do. She's just the best at it. I pleaded with them to order her to come and give you some closure… but they wouldn't. She's too valuable in the field for them to piss her off. They did offer to bring in her new partner, that Bruce guy and let you talk to him. Would you want that?"

"Sure," Chuck said. "Why not? Can we watch it again?"

"Chuck," Hannah said in an exasperated tone. "Why on earth would you want to watch that again? Wasn't the first time painful enough?"

"I miss her," Chuck said. "At least this way I get to see her."

"Okay, Chuck. Can I be honest with you for a second?"

Chuck resisted the temptation to jab her about her inability to be honest but something in her voice stopped him. There was an annoyance that sounded genuine. Oh, he didn't believe a single word that she was saying. But he might as well let her play it out. So he nodded.

"You're frustrating me," she said. In response to his bemused look, she continued. "I really don't think you're being fair," she said with more than a little pout. "Between Agent Walker and me, I'm the one who's being honest with you… and you're holding it against me. How is that fair?"

"I'm not holding anything against you," Chuck said with a smile.

"Yes you are," Hannah insisted. "You let Agent Walker do her job. Yet you look down on me for trying to do mine. I could have pretended to fall in love with you. Trust me on this, Chuck. Sarah Walker didn't invent that move. It's one of the first things you're taught at the academy. But I'm trying to be straight with you."

Chuck's smile actually broadened. "Exactly how are you being straight with me?" he asked.

"I don't love you," Hannah quickly replied. "I'm not the kind of person who is interested in falling in love. I'm not sure that I even believe in love. And don't take this the wrong way but I've never really been around someone like you before. So I don't see me falling in love ever happening."

"Okay," Chuck said. "Was that supposed to make me feel bad? Because if you're trying to make me feel bad, you failed miserably."

"I know," Hannah said with a short laugh. "I understand that you're never going to be in love with me either. That's a good thing. Yes, I have a job to do but here's the truth. I do like you, Chuck. You're a good, nice, decent guy who doesn't deserve any of what's happening. I can't fix most of that but I would like to help you through this as much as I can. And yes, that would also help me professionally… but I'd still like it. When you're ready to let me, just know that I'll be here."

Sarah was pretty conflicted as she sat and watched the scene play out on that small laptop screen. First, no matter what, the professional agent in her had to admire a well executed undercover mission performance. Agent Watkins had just put on a textbook clinic on how to determine what a mark wanted to hear. Chuck's defining characteristic was honesty. The best way through his defenses was to play to that. And honestly she had to admit an awful truth, given a few months time she might just have been able to eventually break him down.

Of course, Sarah knew that Hannah Watkins had just earned herself an ass-kicking that would make what had happened to Bryce an hour ago look like a make-out session. Not really for any professional reason. Agent Walker understood about following orders. It was her job to break Chuck's spirit. Worrying about the mark's well being was simply not part of that job. Using the temptation of sex and lying to him about facts were just the tools that she had been given. Agent Walker had done the same things before with as little regard to the mark's well being as Agent Watkins was now showing.

No, Sarah had to admit something to herself. When the ass-kicking came it was going to be coming more from the woman in her than the agent. That was her guy sitting there. Did she have to keep rubbing his neck like that? War had just been declared. And Sarah just happened to be a world class expert at inflicting pain. In this war no prisoners would be taken alive.

But on the other hand Sarah couldn't keep the silly grin off her face. Chuck missed her. That wasn't so much of a surprise. But he had just said it. He missed her so much that he was willing to watch that horrible footage again just to get a brief glimpse of her. How sweet was that? And the truth was he didn't miss her one tenth as much as she missed him. It was time for this to be over. It was time to get him out of that depressing place… so he could get much more than a glimpse of her.

She turned to where Steven and Casey were still talking. "This is happening tonight," she said. "Right? I can't take one more night of this. I'm going after him tonight if I have to go alone."

It was actually Casey who answered. "You haven't heard a single word we've said, have you?" he asked with a grin. "We've been talking about the plan this whole time. Don't worry about your boyfriend. As long as Larkin does his part, we're in."

So she stomped over to the bathroom door and pounded on it. "Come on, pretty boy," she called through the door. "It's time to wrap it up in there. It's show time."

When Bryce finally opened the bathroom door, he was still plainly a little on the green side. "I'm sorry that I kicked you," she said. Of course that was a lie. She really wasn't all that sorry. It just seemed like the thing to say.

All Bryce could do was to shake his head. "What has happened to you?" he asked sadly. "You're totally out of control. You know that, right?"

"I know," Sarah sighed sadly. "Bryce, you sound just like Carina. Trust me, it's even worse than you're thinking. I know that you're not going to understand this, and I can't begin to explain it to you, but I'm in love with him. I have been for a while and I'm no longer going to try and hide it. I need him, Bryce. That's all up to you now. Help me to get him back and I'll promise to be in a better mood. I'll even invite you to our wedding. I know that you've always had a thing for Carina, but she's been overworked a bit lately. Do a real good job today and I'll fix you up with Zondra. She'll put a smile back on your face."

Bryce tried to smile. He just couldn't quite pull it off. "How could you have possibly changed this dramatically?" he sighed. "You're like a totally different person."

"I didn't change at all," Sarah said. "You just don't know me as well as you think you do. That's not really your fault. I never let you get to know me that well."

"I would have married you, you know," Bryce said sadly.

"Bryce…" Sarah groaned. "Come on. Why do you say things like that? We both know it's not true. What you and I had was different. I don't regret a minute of it. You helped me through a tough time in my life but it just wasn't enough for me. Chuck completes me. I'm like a different person when he's with me. Now I'm someone I actually like. You and I were never in love and we never were going to be. You know that."

"Maybe not," Bryce said. "But I do care for you. I'd like to see you smile again."

"I care for you too," she said. "I always will. Can't you be happy for me? If you care for me, help me to get him back. Then I promise you'll see me smile."

He just nodded. "I'll do my best," he said. "On both fronts."

"Thanks," Sarah said. This time there could be no mistaking the twinkle in her eyes. "That means a lot to me. But, Bryce, let's understand something. If you mess this up you'll remember that kick as the time when I used to be nice to you."

Casey had watched the exchange so far in silence. But he couldn't resist taking a shot. "You're going to set him up with Zondra?" he asked. "You really are turning into a pimp."

Sarah turned to face him. "You're complaining?" she asked incredulously. "Besides if I'm a pimp that makes you… a John. Pretty ironic huh?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah watched the scene playing out in front of her on the laptop so intently that she didn't hear Casey speak to her. She could plainly see the tension in Chuck's eyes as Bryce talked to him. He clearly was desperately looking to see any sign from him that this wasn't true. That she missed him as much as he missed her. But the camera was pointed directly at them.

Bryce's orders were incredibly clear. Sarah had previously watched as Shaw went over them in painstaking detail. He pulled out all the stops to make sure that Bryce was on board. First he threatened him. Then he dangled the carrot. Hannah came and joined Shaw as they talked to him. For the first time today, Sarah honestly regretted that kick. Poor Bryce was probably not going to be in a position to claim his reward any time soon. They even promised him a shot at Sarah once she was broken. Shaw made it very clear that he was going to be personally in charge of the breaking process. He also made it very clear how much he was looking forward to it. Sarah seethed as she saw the anticipation in Shaw's eyes. The sick bastard was plainly planning on seeing how far and how fast he could manipulate her.

They desperately wanted Chuck's spirit broken so he would cooperate with them with no hidden agenda. The first step in that process would be to get him over Sarah. And the quickest way to do that was for him to think that she'd been playing him. So Bryce was to make sure that he would believe it. And he executed his assignment with all the skill one of the top agents in the world possessed.

"Come on, Chuck," Bryce said. "Let's face it. You and Sarah are like oil and vinegar. There's no way for someone like that to settle down. I understand that you fell in love with her. That's unfortunate… but did you really expect someone like Sarah Walker to fall in love with someone like you? I know that from your perspective it sounds cruel but she's really not a bad person. She just did a hard job. Now her job is over. It's time for her to move on to the next one. It's time for you to move on too. Someday, you'll find someone more in your league."

Sarah couldn't really blink the tears out of her eyes as she saw the momentary fear flash in his. This was a nightmare. He should never have had to hear about her moving on. And the worst part was there was a grain of truth in what Bryce was saying. Two years ago he would have been absolutely right. She used to be exactly that girl he was describing. But she no longer was… and she never would be again. When they could finally sit down and have their long talk that was the first thing that she was going to have to make him understand.

She was feeling downright awful… but then it happened. Bryce reached over and hugged Chuck goodbye… and completed his assignment. Sarah breathed a huge sigh of relief. If Orion was half as brilliant as legend had it, she'd be kissing that fear away in just a few hours.

Sarah obviously wasn't paying attention to him, so Casey finally reached out and grabbed her arm to get her attention. "How's he doing?" he repeated for the third time.

For a second all Sarah could do was nod. But finally her panic turned to anger. Chuck was going to be fine. It was time to make sure of that. "He's hanging in there," she was finally able to get out.

"But somebody's going to pay."

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce had been gone for about an hour when Hannah came into his room looking for him. He was lying in his usual position, on his back staring at the ceiling. "Hey," she said softly. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

"You were right," Chuck said without looking at her. "You were right all along. She's moved on."

Hannah's heart soared as she listened to the defeat in his voice. This was finally over. It was time to move in for the kill. "Chuck, I'm sorry," she said. "I know that this is hard. You really loved her. Is there anything I can do?"

"I've been a chump," Chuck sighed. "Haven't I? She was playing me this whole time and I completely fell for it. I'll bet she is laughing at me right now."

Hannah sat on the bed next to him and put her hand lightly on his chest. "You're not a chump," she said. "Stop thinking like that. No one thinks that. She's one of the best agents in the world. Yes, you fell for her, but most men would. That's her specialty. I honestly don't think she's laughing at you. She's forgotten about you. You were yesterday's job. Now she's on to today's job. It's just who she is. So now you need to forget about her."

"Maybe," Chuck said. "But before I forget about her, I want to send a message to her. I'm not a chump. Tell me. Is your offer from the plane still good?"

Hannah had to fight to keep the soft smile on her face from becoming a smirk. This was over. He had already mentally caved. They would be naked within the hour. If he would just scoot over a bit she could lie down next to him and get this started right now. "Of course," she said. "You know that you don't have to ask me that. What do you want to do first?"

Chuck paused for a long moment. Finally he got up and sat next to her. The blush was clearly into his neck. He looked at her for another long moment, and then he reached over and kissed her.

Hannah was a little surprised that Chuck would be this aggressive. But you didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Quickly the kissing escalated until their tongues were dancing. "Thank you," she said with a soft smile as soon as the long kiss finally broke. "I've been waiting for that to happen for a week now. Was that really so horrible?"

Chuck's only response was to lean in and kiss her again, this time with even more intensity. Then he moved to her neck. "I want her to know," he said in between the sucking kisses he was applying to her neck. "Do you think that maybe we could…"

Hannah couldn't help but grin at his awkwardness. So she took his hand and guided it to her left breast. "Come on, Chuck," she whispered. "Don't be bashful. This is your time. Tell me what you want. Trust me, it won't be the first time I've heard it."

Hannah wasn't really surprised when Chuck awkwardly removed his hand from her breast. But she was stunned when he pressed his lips to hers again and slowly slid his hand down her neck into her mostly open shirt and then inside her bra. "Well," he whispered when the long kiss finally broke. "The cameras are off, right?"

"That feels so good," Hannah said with a soft sigh. That actually wasn't a lie. It did feel pretty darn good. Her initial instinct was to take off her shirt and give him free reign to her chest. But Chuck was clearly enjoying being the aggressor. He would probably get to it in a minute. So she just shifted her body to give his hand a better angle and nodded. "They're off. Don't worry. Nobody is watching us." Of course that part was a lie. She'd almost forgotten that she had told him the cameras were off when she was in here.

"Do you think we could have them turned back on?" Chuck asked. "I mean, I'm sorry. I know that you don't want to be seen, umm... engaged. But I'd really like Sarah to see a copy of this. Is that possible? It's too much isn't it? Forget I asked."

Hannah grinned again. If there was one thing in this entire process that was an absolute certainty, it was that Shaw was going to make sure that Agent Walker saw this scene… over and over and over again. He would show Walker tape after tape of her and Chuck screwing every night. He would make her watch close ups of his face as Agent Watkins fulfilled his every fantasy.

Of course there were other tools at his disposal. He would also use isolation, sleep deprivation, and physical pain. But mostly he would use her biggest fear to break her. Once she was broken he would turn her into a yes-girl, willing to do anything if only to get the pain to stop. And eventually he'd get her total submission as she climbed into his bed eager to do absolutely anything he could dream up. That was all pretty predictable. After all, Hannah was something of an expert. It's what he had just done with her. "Don't be silly," she replied. "I've been begging you to let me help you. If you want to make her squirm, the least I can do is let her see me making you happy. I'm honored that you think I would make her jealous. We'll put on a show that she'll never forget."

"Why wouldn't you think you'd make her jealous?" Chuck asked. "You're incredibly beautiful. You're every bit as beautiful as she is. Besides, I have another request. There is this one thing that Sarah would never do for me. It would drive her crazy to see you do it." He pulled her face close to his and whispered in her ear.

Hannah's mouth fell open. "Chuck," she said. "That's pretty wild."

Chuck's face fell. "It's too much," he quickly said as he began to withdraw his hand from her bra. "Isn't it? I'm sorry."

Hannah knew that she had to quickly do something to reclaim the mood. So she grabbed his hand and kept it in place. "Please don't stop," she pleaded. "It feels so good." Actually, what Chuck had just asked for was a seduction mission no-no. In training they had covered the risks pretty thoroughly. Hannah wasn't surprised that Walker had turned him down. But here they were under constant surveillance in a guarded room. The risks really didn't seem to apply. If giving him this one fantasy could seal the deal with him, what could it hurt? And the simple truth was that she didn't find the idea all that unpleasant anyway. "I'm so sorry if I sounded like I didn't want to. That's not it. I was just a little surprised, that's all. You don't seem like the type. But I'm glad I was wrong. I'm thinking that we're going to have a real wild time. I'm really more surprised that Agent Walker wouldn't do that for you. The honest truth is that I'm looking forward to it."

For once in their week old relationship something that Hannah told Chuck was the pure truth. She was looking forward to it… on multiple levels. He was actually a much better kisser than she had anticipated. And the hand that was expertly massaging her left breast was getting her more than a little aroused. She was sure that he could feel that for himself. It actually surprised her a little how turned on she was getting. That didn't ever happen with a mark. _Could I actually be developing feelings for this guy? How stupid would that be?_

The plain truth was she was ready to start ripping his clothes off right now. And she had to admit, it was only partially because of the job. But she instinctively knew that being the aggressor was a large part of what was driving him here… and it was also a big part of why she was getting so excited. So she impatiently waited. Besides, it might be a little interesting to see how wild he would get on his own.

This was turning out to be a pretty good afternoon. As much as she was looking forward to the prospect of some very hot sex with someone who actually had driven her motor to the red line, she had also accomplished her main objective. She was going to become Agent Watkins again. It had been a long and painful road back. "Do you want to do this right now?" she asked hopefully. "I'll go have the cameras turned on."

"Can we wait for a couple hours?" Chuck asked as he took his hand out of her bra. "Call me old fashioned. But this seems more like a nighttime activity. Maybe you could spend the night? Is that allowed? It would be really nice to have someone soft to cuddle with."

Hannah was more than a little disappointed, on multiple levels. She was eager to get this accomplished. For one thing her breast was already missing his touch. The truth was that she was getting close to the edge herself. Hadn't Chuck ever heard of the term 'afternoon delight' before? She also really wasn't looking forward to spending the night all that much. She wasn't much of a cuddler. She was more of a curdle-your-toes-and-leave-you-exhausted kind of chick. But if that's what he wanted, it was totally within her job description.

"Of course it's allowed," she said. "Chuck, trust me. You're happiness is very important… to everybody here. As long as you do the job they ask you to, there's not much you want that you won't get, from me especially. I'm going to spend all night proving that you don't have to be bashful about asking. I'll come back right after dinner." Then she reached down and unbuttoned a button on her blouse. Maybe she could get this started a little early. "Are you sure you don't want a little preview of coming attractions?" she said as seductively as she could. "My right side is feeling a little neglected."

"That would be great," Chuck said. "But I sort of have some specific plans for tonight. I'd rather wait till then if that's okay."

Hannah really didn't try and hide her disappointment. "You're the boss," she sighed with a pout. "Is there anything specific that you want me to wear? I have some nice lingerie. Maybe I could surprise you."

"It really doesn't matter," Chuck said. "If I'm the boss, you're not going to be wearing it very long anyway."

Hannah couldn't get over the change in his attitude. Shaw said that Larkin would break him and he was right. He was truly an evil genius. "Okay," she said. "I'll bring a bottle of wine, a box of condoms, and the other stuff we'll need. I'll see you after dinner. Chuck, I know that this is my job, and you're probably not going to believe this, but I have to tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. I'm on fire. Are you sure there's not something we could do now?"

Chuck's eyes flashed. "I'm really looking forward to it too," he said with a grin. "I just want it to be perfect. We can wait for a couple of hours. Don't forget. I'm the boss. I'm going to be expecting you to prove to me just how much you believe that."

Hannah smiled at his implication. "I think I know exactly how to do that," she said. "I can't get over how much you've changed. It's a huge turn on."

"I have a whole new perspective," Chuck replied with a smile.

"I'm a man on a mission."

x-x-x-x-x

"How's he doing?" Sarah asked impatiently.

"Relax," Casey said with a smirk. "He's doing great. In fact, I think Romeo here has her ready to bear his children. If I didn't know better I'd say that he was actually getting into this a little. His hand looks awfully natural inside her shirt. Maybe you should come and watch for yourself."

Sarah was dying to see what was happening… and dreading it all at the same time. "I promised Chuck that I wouldn't watch it," she said sadly. "I don't break promises to him. Is she buying it?"

Steven grimaced a little as he recognized Casey's needling her. "Don't worry, Sarah," he said soothingly as he reached out his hand and rubbed her arm in a fatherly way. "He's just doing exactly what your note told him to do. I'm sorry but this is all necessary. In order for our plan to work we need her neutralized. And, yes, she is completely buying it."

Sarah was touched by his gesture more than he realized. It had been a long time since she had a dad in her life. So she smiled gratefully. "Thanks," she said shyly.

Casey wouldn't be Casey if he didn't try one last shot. "Not only is she buying it," he said. "She's paying cash."

That actually broke the tension. When Sarah started laughing the two men quickly joined. "Paying cash?" she asked. "What does that even mean?"

Steven got up from his chair. "Are you ready?" he asked. "In two hours you can ask him yourself."

Sarah instinctively took her gun from it's resting place and checked the clip. It wasn't necessary. She had already checked it about a hundred times in the past hour. It was just her spy way of dealing with nerves. "I'm ready," she said.

"Let's go get him."

x-x-x-x-x


	8. The Talk

_Okay, here is the obligatory warning. I know that some of you are tired of all the sex. I'm thinking that you might not mind it so much this time._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Talk**

x-x-x-x-x

Casey and Sarah were walking towards the front gate where the bevy of armed guards awaited. "Dad," she said into her wire. "There are a lot more guards than I anticipated. Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Relax," quickly came the voice into her earpiece. "They have become much too dependant on technology. That's made them lazy. It also makes them vulnerable to anybody who can control that technology. Those ID's I gave you will get you into any door in the place."

"What if someone recognizes us?" she asked. She actually felt a little sheepish the second the words were out of her mouth.

Indeed, the response was a laugh. "You're joking, right?" he asked. "Sarah, you're a covert operative. This is one time when the CIA's fanatical secrecy works to our advantage. The odds of any of these low level guards recognizing your face are almost zero. My only main concern was always his handler. There was no way for us to control her from the outside. If she sounded the alarm before we could secure her we were in big trouble. Fortunately, your future husband has taken care of that issue for us."

"What about the cameras?" Sarah asked. "Aren't there people watching his every move?"

"A whole roomful," Steven replied with a laugh. "Except it's not his moves they are hoping to watch. It worked out perfectly for us. Trust me, they are all gathered around the monitor hoping to see the show. She actually is quite lovely. That means that we don't have to worry about some random man in the hall. I've arranged for a twenty minute delay with a highly edited loop of this afternoon's necking session for their viewing enjoyment. Once they realize what's really happening, we'll be long gone. There's one guard posted outside his door that we have to control. But Sarah, certainly you can get the drop on one lonely man before he has a chance to yell, right?"

"I think so," Sarah said.

"Good," Steven said. "And Sarah… when you meet Chuck's mom do you think we could maybe leave out the part of this story where I said she was lovely? It might save a bit of… an awkward situation for me."

Sarah couldn't help but grin. If he was simply trying to keep her loose, he was doing a great job. "Is she really that jealous?" she asked with the smile evident in her voice.

"She really is," he quickly replied. "It's pretty ironic given her line of work. Maybe it's a trait with you spy types. After all, you're a tad on the jealous side too."

"I'm not jealous," Sarah protested as they approached the main gate. "I'm just protective."

It actually worked out just as Orion said. The guards barely looked up as they flashed their ID's at the card reader and got in the elevator. With Orion talking them through the confusing maze of hallways, they walked unchallenged right to his room. Casey held back for a minute as Sarah walked up to the guard.

With Sarah's own blouse unbuttoned to a dangerous level and her seductive smile, that's all he was seeing. "Excuse me," she said. "Can you point me to the nearest ladies room?" Naturally, when he looked back to her after pointing in the direction down the hall, he was staring directly into the barrel of Sarah's Glock.

When they entered the room, Chuck was sitting on the bed waiting for them wearing his t-shirt, boxers and dress socks just as he was instructed. The grin on his face said everything. Agent Watkins was sitting next to him in pretty much an invisible blue negligee. Her hands were cuffed behind her back. She was clearly trying to talk but the gag that was firmly in place only made it sound like muffled groans. Casey tossed his bag to Chuck who immediately went into the bathroom to quickly change just like they had planned. He was just putting the tie in place when Casey finished securing the guard. Chuck blue suit matched Casey's perfectly. He looked like just another agent.

The two minutes that Chuck spent in the bathroom changing were possibly the longest of Sarah's life. There were still plenty of things that could go wrong. The note that Bryce had slipped into Chuck's pocket warned him specifically not to express any emotion. Now was not the time for any joyful reunion. First they had to escape and time was critical. Every single second counted. Sarah had to resist the overwhelming urge to throw her arms around him. But he looked so perfect. She knew it was important that she keep her own emotions in check as well.

"Come on, Chuck," Casey said. "Let's get out of here."

Sarah turned to Casey. "Wait for me in the hall," she said. "I'll be right out."

Casey had just finished double checking the prisoner's restraints. Hannah and the guard were cuffed to each other, gagged, and securely fastened to the bed. They weren't going anywhere. "Sarah," he said cautiously. "We don't have time for this right now."

"Thirty seconds," was her terse reply.

As soon as Chuck and Casey left the room, she turned to face Hannah. "We've never met," she said with mock sweetness. "My name is Sarah Walker, soon to be Sarah Bartowski. Didn't you learn in seduction school that you never, ever allow the mark to tie you up? Now you know why."

Then she threw a savage kick into Hannah's stomach. "That was for rubbing his neck," she said. "I understand about following orders. I'm afraid that this happens to be pretty personal to me. So don't think this is over. This isn't over by a long shot. That was just a small down payment. The next time we meet, I'll make sure that you'll be able to fight back. That's only fair. By all means, try your best. Be sure to tell your demented boss that I'm sorry that he's not going to get the chance to turn me into his yes-girl-sex-toy. On the contrary, I'm not going to rest until he's face down in the dirt. It might take twenty years, but I'll never forget. One day he's going to look up and I'm going to be standing there. And then his ass is mine. Make sure that you tell him that Sarah Bartowski is pissed. I'm going to make him suffer worse than he could ever imagine."

As soon as Sarah joined them in the hall she finally turned to face Chuck for the first time. "Stay close," she said as she reached out and straightened his tie.

Casey couldn't keep the smirk from his face. "Did it feel good to be… protective?"

Sarah ignored Casey's jab. "If any shooting starts immediately hit the ground and stay there," she instructed Chuck. "We're just going to walk out of here like we're going for a Sunday stroll."

Chuck didn't say anything. He could tell that Sarah was tenser than he had ever seen her. So he just nodded.

Actually, the plan worked perfectly. They walked to the elevator and rode up to the main level. In the elevator, Chuck reached over and kissed her forehead. "Relax," he said with a smile. "This is going to be fine."

Sarah knew that she had to stay Agent Walker for five more minutes… but she couldn't keep the smile from dancing across her face. If everything came crashing down, at least she had been able to touch him again. "And just what would you know about it?" she asked in mock anger. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

"Umm…" Chuck said nervously. "I just did what you told me to do. I didn't enjoy it at all."

"Come on, Chuck," Sarah said with as much grin as the situation would allow. "I'm just teasing you. I'm not upset about that at all. I didn't mean that. We've been looking for you for a week."

Casey was actually the one most on edge. "Do you think we could defer this conversation until we're actually out of the government facility with the thousand armed guards?" he asked sarcastically.

There really wasn't much cause to be tense. Orion was right. It was almost too easy. They walked past the checkpoint like three agents going out on an assignment. Casey even waived to the guards but they didn't look up.

As soon as they got in the van, Steven looked back from the shotgun seat and smiled. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked. "You actually have ten minutes to spare."

Casey was the first to speak. "Let's get out of here before they figure this out," he said as he put the van in gear and drove out of the parking lot.

Chuck looked in amazement. "Dad," he said his voice barely above a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

Sarah had tried to keep her emotions in check… and up till now she had done a pretty good job. But she could wait no longer. She was overcome with relief. He was here. They were together again. She quickly wrapped both arms around his neck and held on for dear life, not that he was trying to get away. Her grin quickly told him that the tears she was unsuccessfully trying to hold back were of the happy variety. "I'll explain everything to you in a few minutes," she said.

To tell the truth, Chuck had some happy tears in his eyes as well. He just nodded.

"Thank you," she said as she pressed her lips to his for an urgent kiss. As soon as the kiss broke, she pulled back to look at him. "First things first, are you okay?"

"I've never felt better," he said. "I was never so relieved in my life as when I read Bryce's note in that bathroom. Are you okay?"

"I had a couple of bad nights," Sarah admitted. "But it's nothing that cuddling with you for the next few nights won't fix."

"Well," Chuck said as he touched his forehead to hers. "I think you can count on that for the next sixty years or so. Thank you for coming for me."

"Don't thank me for that," Sarah said with a grin. "It was Casey who insisted. I was just being a good partner. Besides, you know that I will always come for you, right?"

Chuck nodded. "I never doubted it for a second. I told Hannah in the plane that you were going to kick her ass. How many shots could you get in? You only had thirty seconds."

"I'm not really finished," Sarah said. "I just gave her a small taste. The main part of the ass kicking is still coming."

"I knew that tape of you and Bryce was old. Who were they trying to fool? If you were really on another assignment, they would have been all over themselves having you tell me. What would be more important than having the intersect cooperate?"

Sarah's smile faded… a little. "That's true," she said. "Is that the only reason?"

Chuck reached out and put his hands on Sarah's face. "I never doubted you," he said. "Not for a second. I knew you were out there someplace franticly looking for me. I was trying to figure out a way to help you… but they were watching me like a hawk."

Sarah's smile was back, bigger than ever. "I know," she said. "That's what kept me going."

"Speaking of that," Chuck said. "Was that second base necking with Hannah really necessary?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Sarah said. "We had to sell it. She had to be neutralized. She had to believe you were broken before she'd ever agree to let you tie her up. And if you couldn't have gotten her to agree to that, you know what plan b was."

"I know," Chuck sighed. "Thank goodness she bought it."

Sarah smiled as she saw the genuine relief in his face. "What do you say we do something to get that nasty memory out of your head?" she asked. "I just have one small detail to attend to first." Then she turned to Casey. "We had a deal. You said that you wanted a second to turn your head before I went all lovesick girlfriend on him."

Casey just nodded at her through the rear view mirror. His grin was just as huge as hers.

"Well, this is your official warning. You might want to keep your eyes on the road for the next few. That's always good advice when you're driving anyway."

It was actually Steven who stopped her. "Do you think that maybe you could keep this PG-13 until we get back to the motel?" he asked. "Yes, I'll admit that I want grandkids. But I think I can safely speak for Major Casey when I say we really have no desire to see then being conceived. We should be there in fifteen minutes or so."

"Okay, dad," Sarah said with a grin. "I wouldn't want to get grounded. Casey, do you think that maybe you could drive a little faster?"

"Okay," Chuck said. "Care to tell me why my dad is here? And why you're calling him dad?"

Sarah couldn't keep the grin off her face, not that she was really trying. She was far too happy. "We have a lot to talk about," she said. "But can that wait till after? It's actually something of a long story… and I'm not really going to be up for a long story any time soon. Can you please be a little patient for me?""

"After?" Chuck questioned. "After what?" Then he saw Sarah's sheepish look. "Oh," he said with a grin as soon as the long kiss broke and he moved to her neck. "Why couldn't you just tell me that we'd talk after we made love all night and into the morning?"

"I'm trying hard to keep from ripping your clothes off until we get someplace private," Sarah half moaned, half whispered into his ear. "But if you keep kissing my neck like that it's going to happen right here on this bench seat. You're going to get us grounded for sure. Can't you see your dad is looking right at us? Then we're going to see Casey's lunch. Besides, I didn't think I'd have to actually tell you."

x-x-x-x-x

"You have got to be kidding me," the V.P. said. He was clearly furious. "You show up at my door at two in the morning and all you have to say to me is that he escaped? How is that possible? How could Bartowski just disappear from a facility half a mile underground when he's under constant video surveillance with a thousand armed guards?"

"We don't know, sir," Shaw said, clearly uncomfortable. "Watkins says that Bartowski secured her, then Walker and Casey came in and took him away."

"There are a thousand cameras in there," the V.P. said. "Are you telling me that there is no record of the escape? How is that possible?"

"We don't know," Shaw said. "None of the tapes have a glimpse of Walker or Casey."

"Where is Bartowski now?" he asked.

"We don't know."

"Does Fulcrum have him?"

"We don't know."

"Well what in the hell do you know?" the V.P. said angrily as he came out of his chair.

Shaw held his tongue. For one thing, the question was clearly rhetorical. For another, he was right. He really didn't know anything anyway.

"You know damn well that we need the intersect for any of this to work," the V.P. ranted. "We still have ten days before the event. We have to keep a lid on this till then. I suggest that you figure out where he is and get him back."

"Yes, sir."

The V.P. stepped over to his front door and flung it open. His implication was clear. The meeting was over. "I'm not interested in seeing you alive again until you have him back," he growled. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon the van pulled into the motel parking lot Sarah turned to Steven. "Dad," she said. "Is there anything urgent that you need us for?"

"Absolutely," Steven said. "We have to plan our next move. Who knows what they're going to do when they find that Charles is gone? The next few hours are critical. Let's all go into the room and review the latest surveillance footage. We don't have a minute to waste." But then he saw the look of utter devastation on her face and reached out his hand to her. "I was just teasing you, Sarah," he quickly said with a laugh. "That was mean, wasn't it? Please don't kick me like you did Bryce. I'm really sorry. I couldn't resist. You two take your room and spend the night getting reacquainted. We'll reconvene sometime tomorrow after breakfast."

Sarah probably would never kick her father-in-law. And frankly, she was too relieved to be mad anyway. When she unlocked the door, Chuck scooped her up and carried her into the room. "What was that for?" she asked.

"Carrying my new bride over the threshold," he replied with a smirk as he tossed his bag on the floor next to the bed. "After all, aren't we Charles and Sarah Conner now? They certainly forced us, right?"

Suddenly Sarah realized what Chuck was talking about. Their cover if they ran was as a married couple. "Maybe," she said. "Things are a little more complicated now. I'll be Sarah Conner if I have too. But I'm still holding out hope to be Sarah Bartowski. I know that we have a lot of things…"

Chuck interrupted her by smashing his mouth into hers. "I thought we agreed that we'd talk after," he said with a grin as soon as the sloppy kiss broke.

Sarah looked down at Chuck unbuttoning her blouse. "You're getting pretty aggressive," Sarah said with a grin. "I like it. Agent Watkins was right. It's a huge turn-on."

Chuck's smile faded… a little. "I thought you said that you wouldn't watch that," he said in semi-alarm.

Sarah lowered her arms and allowed the blouse to fall off her shoulders. It hung loose around her waist where it was tucked into her skirt. As soon as Chuck unfastened it, they both slid to the floor. "I didn't watch," she said as she stepped out of the pile of clothes lying in a pool at her feet. "I would never break a promise like that."

Chuck just stood there for a moment deep in thought.

"Good lord," Sarah said after a moment. "You're surely not going to stop there are you? My right side is feeling neglected. So is my left side for that matter. I'll tell you what, if you keep going I'll promise to prove to you how on fire I am."

"You were listening to the whole thing," Chuck said. "Admit it."

"I won't admit it," Sarah said. "I technically didn't listen to it at all. I promised I wouldn't watch and I didn't. But I'll admit that I might have violated the spirit of my promise a little. I couldn't help it. I was too anxious. How about if I make it up to you?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well," Sarah said playfully. "I suppose I could let you watch the next time I have to…"

"I don't think so," Chuck interrupted.

"Okay," Sarah said with a fake pout. "But that just leaves sex. Would that work?"

"Deal," Chuck said with a grin. "With that in mind, you're not going to be needing this anytime soon." He twirled her bra on his index finger before launching it across the room."

"I wasn't kidding about it being a huge turn-on," Sarah whispered as she stepped out of the panties that he had just pushed to the floor. "Or about being on fire. I think that it's time for me to show you how terribly I've missed you. Now if you think I can do that being the only one naked here, you're sadly mistaken."

The blush that Sarah loved to see was quickly up his neck and into his face. "I'm sorry that I'm staring like an idiot," he said. "You're just so beautiful."

"You don't ever have to be sorry about that," Sarah said.

Chuck watched with a grin as Sarah didn't bother to unbuttoned his shirt like he had just done. She just ripped it apart. "I never liked this shirt that much anyway," she mumbled into his lips. "It's time to lose it."

"If you didn't listen to the whole thing, then how do you know about that stuff with Hannah?" he asked.

"Casey was giving me a play-by-play," Sarah said as she pulled away from his mouth just long enough to pull his t-shirt over his head. "He was clearly enjoying himself… a little too much. You know Casey."

"I know Casey," Chuck agreed with a groan. "Great, now I have to look forward to listening to him jab me about it for the next year."

"I don't think so," Sarah said as she gently pushed on Chuck's now bare chest forcing him backwards until he found himself sitting on the bed. "Let me tell you a little story. I think you might enjoy it. It turns out that Casey got his revenge on Carina while you were away. I don't think you have to worry about any teasing from him anytime soon. In fact, maybe it's a good time to go on the offensive with him."

"Really?" Chuck asked. "How did that happen? What did he do?"

Sarah stepped to where Chuck was now sitting on the bed and sat on his lap. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for an incredibly urgent kiss. As soon as that broke she began kissing her way down his chest. "Actually," she said as she slid off his lap and slowly and methodically unbuckled his belt. He quickly lifted his hips a bit to allow her to throw his pants across the room in pretty much the same way he had earlier dispatched her bra. "I wasn't watching or anything. But the way I understand it, he didn't do much of anything. I suppose I could describe what probably happened to you. It might be a good way to kick off our evening."

"But considering the fact that I'm supposed to be making something up to you, I think I'd rather show you."

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah didn't see the backhanded slap coming until it had impacted her face. The force of the blow knocked her violently into the wall, and then she fell awkwardly to the floor. "How could you have let him escape?" Shaw demanded. "What kind of agent are you anyway?"

Hannah didn't try and get up. She just sat on the floor as she took a long moment to gather her bearings. She gently touched her cheek which was currently on fire. Then she reached inside of her mouth to check for any loose teeth. "I was secured," she finally answered. "You knew all about that. You were all for it. As I remember, you were like a little boy at Christmas time waiting to see the tape. Just what did you expect me to do?"

Shaw didn't respond to Hannah. He was too deep in thought. "How could they have possibly known?" he said, much more to himself than to Hannah. "How did Bartowski know exactly when to secure you? How could they have possibly gotten through all of our security?"

"It's like they were watching us," Hannah said sadly.

"Of course," Shaw said. "They've tapped into our video system. That's how they knew. They're probably watching us right now."

"What are you going to do?" Hannah asked.

Shaw looked directly into the camera that was mounted in the corner. "If they want a show," he said. "Let's give them one."

x-x-x-x-x

"You offered to sleep with my dad?" Chuck asked incredulously. "Why on earth?"

It broke Sarah's heart to hear the pain in his voice. She knew that would be hard for him to take. Of course, it some ways, it was like they had never been apart for a week. Their love making sure wasn't rusty at all. But she knew that she would never be comfortable again until he knew about the person she used to be, but no longer was. He deserved that.

So she cuddled up to him in their favorite position and told him… everything. For three long hours she rested her head in the nook between his head and shoulder and told him all of Agent Walker's darkest secrets. She started on the day a scared little girl reported to the CIA academy and didn't stop until she told him about yesterday. Sometimes he would stop her and ask questions… but mostly he just let her talk. And actually, he did okay through the story of her CIA training and the various missions she had been on. He even asked some good questions, sometimes about details she struggled to remember. Oh, he got a little quiet when they talked about the seduction missions, but she expected that. He never once stopped holding her. Finally he was up to speed. Agent Walker was no longer a closed book to him.

"I didn't know he was your dad," she said sadly. "I figured he must have been Fulcrum. And I didn't exactly offer. I was desperate. We didn't have a clue where to begin to look for you. Here this guy shows me a tape of you lying in bed and tells me he can get you back for me. So I… Chuck, I agreed. I'm sorry if that bothers you."

"My dad asked you for sex?" Chuck asked, just as incredulously.

"Well, no," Sarah admitted. "But it sure sounded like it to me. He told me that he needed me to perform a personal service for him that I wasn't going to want to do. He said that he hated to force me like this, but it's the only way I would agree. He said that he had been fanaticizing about it for a long time. So I assumed he meant sex."

"So what was it that he really wanted?"

"He wants me to talk you and Ellie into giving him an hour, with a truly open mind," Sarah said. "Chuck, I really think that you should. Your dad has been great to me. He's already more like a dad to me than my real dad."

Chuck changed the subject. "So you would have had sex with a Fulcrum agent?" he asked sadly.

Sarah didn't answer right away. She got up off the bed, walked over to the window, and peered through the blinds into the darkness. "I thought about not telling you about this," she finally said. "After all, nothing happened."

Chuck didn't respond. He just looked at her standing there.

"But I realized that I love you too much to try and hide anything from you," she continued. "So, yes, I would have done anything to find you. And I know that would have hurt you. I'm so, so sorry about that. I was desperately trying to figure out some way out of it. But saving you was worth it to me. I'm honestly sort of panicked right now that I'm hurting you. I hope you know that I would never, ever cheat on you with another man. I know that I've lied to you in the past, but I promise I'm never going to lie to you again. So here's the truth. If that same situation happened next week, if I could save your life by having sex with some stranger, I'd do it. And if you were in that situation, I'd expect the same from you. I hope that doesn't mess us up."

Chuck got up, walked over in back of Sarah, and put his arms around her. "I've never thought of it that way," he said. "It was hard for you to tell me all that stuff, wasn't it?"

"I thought it would be," Sarah said. "But it turns out that it wasn't hard at all. You deserve it. I'm sorry about the parts that made you sad. I think that you've always known that I'm not the girl next door. That's why I told you all that stuff about my past. It's important that you understand something. Hannah Watkins is exactly what I used to be. In fact, three years ago you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between us. In our world, sex is a weapon. It's what men always want. Spies are trained to use that against them. I understand that you don't see sex that way. It's hard to fault you for that. Yes, my first instinct when I need something from a man is to flirt with him. I know that bothers you. I don't blame you. It's not what a normal man should expect from his wife. I'm really trying to be the girl you deserve. But I also have to use all the weapons I have to keep you safe. Can you be a little patient with me?"

Chuck squeezed her tight and nuzzled her neck. "You're really trying, aren't you?" he asked. "Yes, I can be patient. But I think we need a new rule. The next time you agree to have sex with someone to save me, make sure that it's a true life or death situation, that it's really what he's asking for first, and hopefully he isn't related to me in any way. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Sarah sighed.

"Another new rule," Chuck said. "Stop trying to be the girl I deserve. Who would want that? It would probably be a female version of Jeff. I kind of like the fact that I have one who is a hundred times more than I deserve. I don't know what you used to be, but whatever you are now, I'm head over heels in love with it. Yes, I'm not wild about you flirting with men. I'll admit it bothers me sometimes. But I also know why you do it. So maybe we could keep it to a minimum?"

"I'll really work on it," Sarah said with a relieved sigh. "Are we okay?"

Chuck gently pulled her away from the window and turned her to face him. Then he took a step back and overtly ogled her with a grin on his face. Even in the mostly darkened room, the sight was… well, you do the math. He made an exaggerated point of checking her out from her head to her toes, and back again. "I think we're a lot more than okay," he teased. "I'm sorry if this is a bit on the crude side, but I have to admit the flirting bothered me a lot more before I got to see this. As long as this is an every night occurrence, I could probably put up with a lot."

"It wasn't crude at all," Sarah quickly said. "I understand that you're teasing. But you need to understand, I'm not teasing. There is nothing that I will ever withhold from you. If looking is what you like, look all you want. That's actually kinda sweet. Hopefully you'll eventually want to do more than just look. When you do, I told you this in Cancun, but I'm telling you again now, any time, any place. Say the word, or don't say anything at all."

Chuck just kept up his huge grin. "I sure hope that this isn't a dream," he said.

"It's not a dream," Sarah said with her own grin. "I'm sort of hoping that the any time, any place thing applies to me as well. Or are you going to make me beg? I will."

"Wow," Chuck said. "I guess I always thought that was something that didn't need to actually be said."

"Maybe not," Sarah admitted. "But it's nice to hear. If it's okay, I have a rule or two of my own."

"Okay," Chuck said. "I guess that's fair. Shoot."

"You and I are from totally different worlds," Sarah began. "Let's face that head-on. To you, a person's motives are the most important thing. I'm simply not used to that. I've been trained that all that matter are results. In the past to get those results, I've lied, manipulated, killed, and, yes, sometimes even screwed. I'm not really going to apologize for that. It's how I've stayed alive in a brutal business. Even more importantly, it's how I plan on keeping you alive. I understand you're not comfortable with any of that. So I will apologize for anything that hurts you. I would never want to do that."

"I know," Chuck whispered. "There is no need to apologize."

"But I need you to know," Sarah continued. "I'm not that wild about Agent Walker either. I'm trying hard to no longer be that person. I actually like myself when I'm with you. I want to be a partner, friend, wife, soul mate that you can be proud of. I want to be Chuck's girl. You're the most important thing in my life. There really isn't a close second. I understand that seeing me be Agent Walker hurts you sometimes. So I'm going to do everything that I possibly can to never hurt you again. There's now a line that you can know with certainty that I'll never cross. I just need to figure out how to be Sarah Bartowski… and not get you killed in the process. So now, part of my calculation in how to proceed in my job will be how it affects you. I can't promise that nothing will ever happen that you won't like. This is still a brutal business, and I still have to protect you. I don't know what the future holds for us… but one thing I know for sure. If I ever have to choose between duty and hurting you, duty loses."

"Understood," Chuck said with a smile. "Is there a rule in there somewhere for me to follow?"

"Yes," Sarah said with the beginnings of her own smile. "The sad truth is that I don't have a clue on how to be Sarah Bartowski. I'm flying blind here. So when I mess up, and I will, the rule is for you to remember that I love you with all my heart… and that I'm doing my best."

"Easy rule to follow," Chuck said, now with a full fledged grin. "Why would I ever want to do anything else? I love you with all my heart too."

"I have another rule," Sarah said softly. "Remember that move you did the second time in my hotel room last week? The one you clearly got from that stupid porn magazine?"

That got them both laughing. "You still remember that, huh?" Chuck said. "For the last time, Forum is not porn. That actually sounds more like a request than a rule, don't you think? But actually, that reminds me. In my cell, it came to me that I've never asked you a question, a very important question, that I'd like to ask you now if that's okay?"

Sarah's face showed her sudden concern over the seriousness of his tone, but she just nodded.

"Will you marry me?"

Sarah's face instantly showed her huge relief as she threw her arms around his neck. "You just scared me to death," she quickly said. "Yes, of course I'll marry you."

"Good," Chuck said as soon as his lips were free. Then he scooped her up into his arms. "In that case, your previous request is granted."

x-x-x-x-x


	9. Sarah's Plan

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Sarah's Plan**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was in that state that was half way between being awake and sleeping. And truthfully, she wanted to stay there for as long as possible. For one thing, she was physically tired, both from not getting much sleep for the past week but also from last night's… well, activities. To say that last night had been simply perfect was understatement. It was actually like three different pretty good nights all rolled into one.

The first part of the night was pretty wild. After all, her and Chuck had just spent a week not knowing if they would ever see each other again. So those first couple times they reconnected physically were different than anything they had experienced as a couple before. They were much more urgent… hard and fast raw passion, and too quickly over. Although Sarah would never tell him this, and she felt more than a little guilty even making the comparison, but it was more like her times with Bryce. Not that it was bad, it wasn't. It's what they both needed at that time. It just wasn't what she had become used to from Chuck. And that's not to imply that she blamed him, she didn't at all. She was the one that was most desperate.

The second part of the night went better. They reconnected on an emotional level. It was awkward telling Chuck about some of the things in her past that she knew would bother him. But she had been confident that he would get her through it. And like most things related to her guy, he completely exceeded her expectations. Let's face it. His proposal wasn't at all necessary. They both knew they had already agreed to be married. But it was pure Chuck. He knew she was feeling insecure and he did what it took to reassure her. How could you not love him?

Actually it was the third part of the night that had her grinning in her near-sleep. They reconnected on a spiritual level. Sarah couldn't ever quite figure out how he did it. Then again, she never had feelings anything close for anybody like this before. But how could he get her so close to the edge, and keep her there for what seemed like forever? And the really amazing thing was that it was so effortless. He was clearly right there on that edge with her the whole time. It was so much more than just sex. They became one in every way you could imagine… and some you simply couldn't imagine.

Sarah finally woke up enough to realize that she must have rolled away from him in her sleep. That alone was pretty unusual. She normally woke up still cuddled with him. So she rolled towards him to snuggle. And if that snuggling caused her hand to drift a little south, and that inspired him to start something more… well that wouldn't be all bad either. Except that when she reached out for him, all she got was an empty side of the bed.

Sarah was immediately wide awake. She quickly sat up and looked around the room. She could see through the open door of the bathroom that he wasn't there. Her spy instincts were ringing off the hook. Where was he? So she grabbed her gun off the dresser and ran to the door. About halfway there, she realized that she was still naked. So she grabbed the silk nightshirt from Cancun and quickly threw it on. Then she put her robe on over that and threw open the door.

She was just about to pound on the door where Casey and Steven were supposed to be sleeping when she saw Chuck and Casey walking towards her. They were carrying cups of coffee and a bag of what looked like breakfast supplies, namely bagels and cream cheese.

Chuck could tell instantly by the look on her face… and the gun in her hand that he had just screwed up. But he certainly didn't want to give Casey any more ammunition in the jabbing department than he already had. So he just wordlessly held out a cup of coffee to her.

Sarah also didn't want to say anything in front of Casey. So she just lowered her gun, and took the cup from Chuck.

If Casey noticed the tension, he didn't say anything about it. "Good morning, princess," he said sarcastically. "I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you are actually going to have to get dressed sometime. We do have some mission related plans to make. It turns out that they are holding Beckman in the same facility that Chuck was in. That's why she's disappeared. She's captive."

Sarah gathered her composure enough to finally look at Casey. "So what?" she asked sarcastically. "Even if I wanted to rescue her, and I most definitely don't, what could we do about it? I say let Shaw turn her into his yes-girl. They deserve each other. That seems like justice to me, sickening to think about perhaps, but still justice."

Casey grimaced at the thought of Shaw and Beckman. "Well," he said. "There goes breakfast. I'm suddenly no longer hungry. But I'm afraid that it's more complicated than that. Eat you bagel, get dressed and come over in an hour. We'll brief you then."

As soon as the door closed, Chuck grabbed her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't thinking. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Sarah said as she sat her gun back on the dresser.

"Good," Chuck said with a sigh of relief as he handed her a bagel. "I was afraid…"

"Damn it, Chuck," Sarah interrupted angrily as she glared at him. "Do you realize the week I've just spent trying to find you? Don't you understand what I've been going through thinking that I might never see you again? Do you honestly not have a clue in that giant pea brain of yours what I felt like when I woke up and you were missing?"

Chuck just stared at her for a long moment. "It was insensitive," he finally said. "I'm very sorry. You just looked so peaceful sleeping there. So when Casey came over, I wanted to surprise you with breakfast. I feel horrible that I put you through that. I didn't think you'd wake up and miss me. It won't happen again."

Sarah sighed. "I'm sorry that I got mad," she said as she finally took the bagel that he was still holding out to her. "That was actually quite sweet. I'm afraid that I'm going to be really, really clingy for a while. Please try and have some patience with me. I'll try hard not to smother you."

That actually got a grin. "You smother me?" he asked as his gaze drifted to her chest. "What a way to go."

Naturally that got a grin in return. "Stop with the mind in the gutter," she said playfully. "I'm supposed to be the one who's constantly thinking that way."

"Don't apologize for being clingy," Chuck said, more seriously. "Trust me, I feel it too. I'll try and be very sensitive. How long do you think it's going to last?"

"I don't know," Sarah sighed as she stepped into his waiting arms.

"I'd say about twenty years."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were both in the shower, so neither heard Casey pounding on the door. "Seriously," he said to Steven once he had picked the lock and opened the door. They immediately saw the clothes haphazardly strew around the room. The bathroom door was closed and they could hear the shower… and the other sounds. Casey delicately stepped around Sarah's bra lying on the floor on his way to the bathroom. "You really need to have a talk with those two. It's beyond sickening."

"Haven't you ever been in love?" Steven asked with a sigh. "I really wish we could leave them alone for a few days. It just doesn't look like that's in the cards, I'm afraid."

Casey didn't answer. He just stepped up to the bathroom door and pounded on it. Almost immediately the water, and the giggling, stopped.

"Who is it?" Sarah called.

"Take a wild guess," Casey yelled sarcastically. "We have a crisis. We need Walker right away."

It wasn't twenty seconds before Sarah came out of the bathroom wearing two towels. One was wrapped around her head. The other was, well it was hard to describe. Of course, even a regular towel wouldn't hide all that much of Sarah's… assets. But the undersized, threadbare towels in this cheap motel… well, it barely did the job. She was clearly struggling to keep from putting on a show at both ends. It was a race to see which face got redder faster as both Steven and Casey looked at her with wide eyes… and quickly turned away.

In spite of the situation Sarah smiled at their embarrassment. But she also knew that they wouldn't barge into their room without something serious being up. "What's the crisis?" she asked with obvious concern.

Steven didn't turn to face Sarah. He just held out a phone for her. "We have some bad news," he said.

"They're going after Ellie,"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was sleeping as soundly as she ever had in her whole life when the phone woke her. It had been a truly magical week, tiring, but purely magical. The two weeks in Cancun had changed her life, in many ways really. For one thing, she now had knowledge. And knowledge was power.

Now she knew about Chuck. That itself was a mixed bag. Oh, she was concerned for him. The small glimpse that she got into his new world told her all she needed to know that it was a very dangerous place. But she was also incredibly proud… and more than a little embarrassed at the same time. Here she was giving him crap that he wasn't living up to his potential, and all this time he had been out there risking his life saving the world. She probably should have been even more worried. But he had Sarah.

Then there was that. Ellie now knew the truth about Sarah. That was the best thing to come from her two-week adventure. She now had a best friend for the rest of her life. Not only that, a beautiful, kick-ass, brilliant best friend who loved her brother with a ferocity that sometimes bordered on scary. She wasn't yet officially a sister. But that was just formality. She was every bit a sister. In a lot of ways, she had become a mentor to Sarah. But in a lot of other ways, Sarah had become a mentor to her.

Another benefit of having an agent for a sister was she now knew a hell of a lot more about being a spy, perhaps sometimes more than she wanted to know. At least now she knew that there were cameras in the apartment and where they were aimed. Thank goodness with Chuck living there she usually made sure she was dressed before walking around outside her bedroom. The last thing she ever wanted was for Morgan to see her less than fully clothed. But there were almost certainly times when she knew they weren't there. After all, who couldn't go get a glass of water in their own home without worrying about putting on clothes? Of course there was also that time just a few weeks ago when Chuck was house sitting with Sarah that her and Devon got really friendly on the couch. Sarah clearly didn't want to answer when she asked her how much footage of her naked there was buried in CIA files. She really didn't have to answer. The redness in her face said everything. Sure, Ellie was embarrassed. But what could she do? It had already happened. She could get angry, but at who? At least now, she could protect herself.

But the most important thing that Ellie learned in Cancun was about herself. She now knew what she wanted from life, and more importantly, who she wanted it with. And she was no longer willing to hold back on the things that she wanted. Devon was clearly the main beneficiary of her new attitude on life. Oh, they always had a reasonably healthy sex life, but it had always been pretty traditional… and Ellie always waited for Devon to make the first move. The most she would ever do would be to dress so as to encourage that first move. That's why she bought the negligee when she was shopping with Sarah that time. But since Cancun, things had changed. She was no longer content to wait on Devon. She was also no longer reluctant to creatively talk him into it on those rare occasions when he might need some… encouragement.

Sarah had promised to give them some time alone to be together. That was sweet. But who was she kidding? She just wanted some time alone with Chuck as well. But it was actually time to give Sarah a call. For one thing, she missed her. For another, she was dying to hear how it was going between them. And truthfully, poor Devon was starting to wear down anyway.

When Ellie got up to answer the phone, she glanced at the clock. Doctors were totally used to being awakened at odd hours. But 4:30? This had better be good. "Hello," she said sleepily.

The voice was muffled, hard to understand, almost like it was generated by a computer. "Hello, Dr. Bartowski. This is April from NBC. We're conducting a market survey and were wondering if you had the time to answer a few questions about your television viewing habits."

_You've got to be kidding me_. Ellie half wanted to launch into a tirade. Those East Coast people never understood the three hour time difference. _For another thing, who watches NBC anyway?_ The other half wanted to launch the phone across the room. But she was too tired to do either. "No," was all she said as she quickly ended the call and plopped back down on the bed. But she wasn't there for thirty seconds before her eyes popped back open. _Wait, April? A market survey for NBC? That was Sarah's code phrase._

InCancun, Sarah told Ellie that there was the real possibility that someday her and Chuck might have to run. If that happened the government would be desperate to find them. They would do anything to get Chuck back under their control. And getting ruthless wasn't even close to their edge. Sarah warned her not to believe anyone who told her that Chuck or she was dead… unless she personally saw their bodies. She andDevonwould be under constant surveillance anywhere they went. Their cell phones would certainly be bugged. Agents would be tailing them. There would be no way for Sarah to warn her without tipping off her own location. The only way to ever see each other again was to defeat the surveillance. So they made this plan. She reached over and shookDevon's shoulder. "Come on, sweetie," she said. "We have to get up."

Devon was somewhat less than enthusiastic. "Babe," he moaned into his pillow. "I'm all for this new aggressiveness and everything. I am. It's been a blast. But come on. I'm not a machine."

This wasn't the time to be gentle. Sarah had told her that seconds count. So Ellie reached over and punched him in the arm. "Get up," she growled. "I just remembered something. We have to go to the hospital."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally, by the time that Sarah was off the phone with Ellie, Steven had already tapped into the surveillance cameras at her place. They could tell that she had properly received Sarah's message when they quickly left for the hospital.

"Okay, Dad," Sarah said as she handed him the phone back. "What's going on?"

"They've finally figured out that we're tapped into their video system," Steven said. "They're not exactly the most brilliant group of people, are they?"

"No," Sarah agreed. "Sometimes they can be downright stupid."

"Well what they lack in brains, they more than make up for in ruthlessness," Steven said sadly. "They're going to grab Ellie and use her as leverage to get you two and Chuck to surrender. I'm afraid that means…"

"They know we're watching," Sarah sadly finished his sentence. "So they are going to make us either surrender or watch them torture her."

"Or worse," Casey said through gritted teeth. "They will make us watch them break her. What is the plan that you and Ellie made? Does she have a chance?"

"Maybe," Sarah said. "It depends on how quickly they are going to grab her. If they wait for a couple of hours, she has a chance. Once she's at the hospital, we've gone over some techniques to avoid a tail."

"I don't think they are going to grab her right away," Steven said. "They just decided on it. It will take some time for them to make a specific plan. I also don't think they would try anything in a public place like the hospital. Where are you going to meet?"

"In Vegas," Sarah said. "If Ellie follows our plan, it will take her almost a whole day to get there."

"You'll need to take your plane," Steven said.

Suddenly a muffled voice came through the closed bathroom door. "Excuse me," Chuck called. "Remember me? I'm as worried about Ellie as anyone. But do you think I could come out of the bathroom and put some clothes on?"

"That's not a bad idea," Steven said with as much smile as he could muster. "Come on, Major. We'll go next door and give these two some privacy. We'll meet there in ten minutes and talk."

"Ten minutes," Casey growled. "That's enough time to actually get dressed. Not for any of your other… activities."

"That's funny coming from you," Chuck called. "From what I heard about you and Carina, ten minutes is more than enough."

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Sarah couldn't keep in the rather wet giggle at the redness that was already well into Casey's face.

"Okay, you two," Steven said rather harshly. "That's about enough of that. We'll see you in ten minutes." But when he turned to leave, he winked at Sarah with a knowing smile.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie knew right away that something was horribly wrong. That code call was only to be used as a last resort. Sarah had warned her if this ever happened to assume that they were being followed. Certainly their cell phones would be tapped. There probably was a bug in their car to track their movements, and possibly to even listen to their conversation. So even though Devon was clearly semi-franticly trying to figure out what was going on, she put her fingers to her lips and quieted him until they were inside the hospital.

Ellie knew that her job was to get them toLas Vegaswithout being tailed. Fortunately, Sarah's plan was pretty detailed. She knew that she wouldn't be able to use any credit cards. That meant she needed cash. There were several ATMs in the hospital. But Sarah had already warned her against making any large withdrawals that would tip them off. Fortunately, Ellie had already planned ahead. She had put away some cash and a new prepaid phone hidden in her office.

The next thing was a car. Sarah had told her that her car was almost certainly bugged. So she went to one of her doctor friends and traded cars with her. Oh, she caught the look. Her friend was sure that Ellie wanted the strange car for some reason… like cheating onDevon. That thought was cemented when she asked her friend to drive her to the motel. Ellie knew that she couldn't be seen driving out of the hospital parking garage. So she hid in the back seat. Fortunately, her friend didn't seem to mind at all. In fact her eyes sparkled with excitement as she helped her 'cheat' on her fiancé. Imagine her disappointment when they got to the motel and it wasDevonwho was standing there waiting for her. He had just done the exact same thing with one of his friends.

So now they had a car that was almost certainly not bugged. But that wasn't good enough. Sarah had told her that would only buy her about an hour. The agents looking for her would quickly figure it out and be on the lookout for her friend's car. So they needed a new one.

So far, so good. But it was now time for the next step in Sarah's plan.

x-x-x-x-x

It only took six minutes for Chuck and Sarah to make it to the room. When they got there, Casey and Steven were already busy discussing how to proceed. It was agreed that Steven would stay behind and monitor the situation.

"Be careful with Chuck," Steven said. "This could well be a trap."

There was something in his voice that gave Sarah pause. "Don't worry," she said firmly. "Chuck is not leaving my sight. Besides, we'll possibly need the intersect to identify any agents that might be following her. Nobody knows where Ellie is headed. Even Devon doesn't know. If we can get there first and be waiting in ambush, even if she is being followed, maybe we can get the drop on them."

"You know," Casey said. "Capturing Orion would even be a bigger prize to them than capturing the Intersect. Maybe I should stay here and protect him."

Steven simply laughed. "I'm actually quite touched by your concern," he said. "But I've been evading the CIA for twenty years on my own. Do you really think I can't do it for another couple of days?"

That settled it for Sarah. Something was up. So she turned to Casey. "If we're going to beat Ellie to Las Vegas," she said. "We have to leave right now. I'll meet you two in the van. I want to go over something with Orion here first."

As soon as Chuck and Casey left the room," Sarah turned to Steven. "Please tell me the truth," she said. "I think that you owe me that. Are you going to be here when we get back?"

Steven looked around the room uncomfortably. "You don't need me any more," he finally said. "It was a mistake to try and get back into their life. He won't even look at me. It's better if I just disappear again."

"Look," Sarah said softly. "The honest truth is that I'm a total stranger to you. I understand that. After all, we've known each other for a grand total of three days now. I know that I don't have any right to ask you this. But I feel like you're family. My family. You don't know how long I've waited to be able to say that or how good it sounds to me. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you better. So please, let me talk Chuck into getting to know you again. You don't know him like I do. Yes, he's mad right now. He feels betrayed. But it's not his nature to hold a grudge. He's forgiving… to a fault. He'll come around, I promise. Please give him that chance. If you don't, it will bother him for the rest of his life."

"Why is this so important to you?" Steven asked.

"A couple of reasons," Sarah said. "First, I love him. I hope that you believe that now. I love Ellie almost as much. They are the two most amazing people I've ever heard of. You should be very proud. I know that I am. And they need their dad, even if they don't realize it yet. I need him too. My kids need to know their grandpa. And the honest truth is, you need them just as much. Admit it."

Steven ignored her challenge for the moment. "Tell me about this Devon," he said. "Did Ellie do as good of a job choosing a partner as Chuck did?"

Sarah actually blushed at his compliment. "Ellie did great," she said. "Devon is amazing. He is a brilliant doctor, he's so devoted to her that it's hard to believe, and he makes her happy. On top of that, he's really a nice guy. I want to introduce you to him. I'm sure that you'll really like him. And that would mean the world to Ellie. So, Dad, will you promise me that I'll get that chance?"

Steven looked around awkwardly. "I really don't think that's a good idea," he said.

"Maybe not," Sarah said. "But would you please do it anyway? For me? Maybe it's not fair to put it like that. But I'd be very grateful. It could be my wedding present. Besides, we had a deal. I'm going to give you a grandson, and you're going to bounce him on your knee. I expect you to keep your word."

Steven just looked at the floor for a moment. Finally he looked up into her eyes. "You're very persuasive," he sighed. "But I suppose you already know that. Okay, yes, I promise."

Sarah's face lit up in a smile. "Thanks," she said.

As she turned to go, he grabbed her arm. "Sarah," he said. "I have to be honest. I think that you're aware that I don't like what you do for a living, how you do it, or even what you stand for. I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to like you, and that's saying it nicely. I was prepared to tell Chuck that I thought you were bad for him. In fact, I was prepared to do almost anything to convince him to leave you. But I'll admit I was wrong. So I want to apologize. He's really incredibly lucky, so is Ellie... and so am I."

If Sarah was smiling before, now it lit up the room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed with everything she had. "I'm the lucky one," she said, her voice no more than a whisper. "You have no need to apologize. In fact, two years ago you would have been exactly right. Your son saved me."

It was the second time they had hugged. But this time Steven wasn't nearly so hesitant. He gently rubbed her back for a long moment. "You've waited a long time for a real family," he said softly. "I'm sorry that you got stuck with such a poor excuse for one."

"Are you kidding?" Sarah asked. "I'll admit that it might not be what I always daydreamed about. But I wouldn't trade this family for anything… not any of you."

Steven just continued to rub her back. "Not even Morgan?" he finally asked playfully.

"Hey," Sarah answered with a grin. "Morgan's stock has risen about a hundred points lately. Trust me. You don't want to know why."

Steven broke the embrace. "You'd better get going," he said with a smile. Ellie isn't going to rescue herself."

Sarah nodded and turned to leave. Steven quickly grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze."

"Sarah, welcome to our family."

x-x-x-x-x


	10. Cocktail Waitresses and Other Pros

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Cocktail Waitresses, CIA Agents, and Other Pros**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah finally was able to put the plane on autopilot and relax a bit. It had been a harrowing ride to the small airstrip where they had left the plane. Casey realized that they needed to get to Vegas before Ellie did. And that meant one thing – drive the van as fast as it would possibly go. Sarah had to resort to some pretty drastic methods to calm Chuck down and hide his eyes from death. Okay, so that excuse for getting in some necking was pretty lame. Casey wasn't buying it either. And truthfully, Sarah wasn't in her sexiest mood anyway. For one thing, every time their lips got close, Casey would jerk the wheel. Sarah still had a mini-fat lip from the one time when they banged together.

Sarah was really trying to fight being worried about Ellie. But it was hard. If they captured her, she knew that it would be horrible. She already knew enough about this Daniel Shaw dickhead to fear what he would do to her. She quickly realized there would be no limit to what he would be capable of to get the intersect back. The only hope was they would recognize that Dr. Eleanor Bartowski was a national hero that the President himself had just called to personally thank a few days ago. Maybe Shaw would fear any publicity and tread a little softly. But it surely wasn't anything Sarah was counting on. It was far better to make sure that he never had the chance.

Besides, yes, there was also some anticipation building in her stomach. A lot of that was the glow that her conversation with Dad had caused. But she was really looking forward to seeing her sister again. She missed talking to her desperately. Going on the run together for the second time this month might be exciting. And getting to have a hand in having her best friend get to know her dad again… well that was more than a little exciting. Maybe they could be a real family. A different kind of family, true. But still.

But they had four long hours in the air before they would get to Las Vegas. And there was something critical that needed to be taken care of first. Sarah had about had her fill of listening to Casey make fun of their aborted efforts to neck in the van and their love life in general… and that was understatement. It was one thing to jab her. But he was bugging Chuck. That was unacceptable. He simply had to be taught a lesson.

So as soon as they were out of controlled airspace she stealthfully clicked off the autopilot and put the plane into a gradual climb, until she was close to the ceiling for this particular class of aircraft. She made a point of catching Chuck's eyes and made sure that he saw as she reached down and tightened her seatbelt. She could tell by the twinkle in his eyes alone that he had her message… and he subtly tightened his own belt.

As soon as Casey leaned forward to more fully enjoy the mental havoc that he was bestowing, Sarah threw the plane into a steep dive. "Oh shit," Casey yelled as his head hit the bulkhead above him.

As the plane quickly picked up airspeed, Sarah leveled out the dive and banked steeply left. Then she just as steeply banked back to the right. "Shit," Casey yelled again as he was tossed uncontrollably around the back of the cabin. "What are you doing?"

Sarah finally used the increased airspeed to casually climb back to their original altitude and nonchalantly clicked the autopilot back on.

"What in the hell was that for?" Casey moaned as he rubbed his head.

Sarah looked over at Chuck. He was laughing so hard that he couldn't look up. So she looked back over her shoulder at Casey. "Sorry, big guy," she said. "It looks like we hit a bit of turbulence. It might be a good idea to keep your seatbelt on for the duration of the flight."

Casey just glared at her. "Turbulence, my ass," he growled.

"Since we're having this nice moment," Sarah said with mock sweetness as she bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. "I just want to let you know that I have a small cut on my lip from earlier in the van. It's actually quite painful. I wish in the future you'd drive a little more safely. I'm going to spend the next few minutes comforting my incredibly cute fiancé here. I'm afraid that I might have to even get a little physical. He looks pretty scared to me. Feel free to watch and take notes. The way I understand it, you could use the pointers. Just to put this on the table, if you see anything that looks like it might be any second base type action, don't be alarmed. That's probably exactly what it is. Chuck gets pretty frisky."

"Any questions?"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie had her nose buried in the classified section of the newspaper they had just purchased at the convenience store. The car was parked on the side of a dusty road just outside Las Vegas. They had taken no where near the most direct route to get here. "Yup," she said. "This is the place."

"I can't wait to take a look at this car," Devon said. "Are you sure that you have Sarah's directions right? What kind of car can you buy for five hundred dollars?"

"One that no one's looking for," Ellie said. "We're not looking for a great deal or long term transportation. We're looking to get there in one piece. As long as it runs for today, that's all we need."

"So," Devon said softly. "When are you going to tell me where 'there' is? Or why I can see all the way down the front of your blouse?"

"I can't tell you where we're going until we get there," Ellie said. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Sarah was very specific. I'm not to say the destination out loud. Not to anybody, not even you. If they're listening and get there first, they would be there waiting…"

"I know," Devon sighed. "Sarah would be dead meat."

"Maybe," Ellie said. "Something tells me that she'd take a few of them with her."

"That's another thing I don't understand," Devon said. "How could Sarah possibly be as bad-ass as you're saying? She's… I mean she's…"

"You can say it," Ellie said with a laugh. "Everybody knows that she's unbelievably gorgeous. There's no secret there. I'm not jealous about that at all. But trust me. I've seen her in action. She can handle herself. As far as your other question about my shirt, well that's something else that Sarah taught me. It might make my upcoming negotiation a little easier."

"I see,"Devonsaid with a grin. "A little distraction strategy. That Sarah is pretty clever. If you were any sexier, he'd probably pay you to take the car."

"You're not jealous, are you?" Ellie asked softly. "That's the last thing I would want. If this bothers you, I'll button it back up. This is meaningless. I'm not really a slut. I'm just playing the part."

"I'm not the least tiny bit jealous,"Devonsaid as his grin broadened. "Slutty Ellie is actually something of a huge turn-on."

Ellie smiled. "Well, in that case," she purred. "Maybe I should lose the bra. You never know when an extra five hundred dollars will come in handy."

"I think you're good," Devonsaid. "Maybe you can save the bra thing for tonight when you're distracting me a little. You go negotiate and I'll meet you in the casino like we planned. This is actually kinda fun, isn't it?"

"More than fun," Ellie said with her eyes sparkling. "It's exciting. If you're looking for slutty Ellie, I think you may be in luck. Prepare for me to distract you until you're exhausted once we're safe."

"I'm already exhausted," Devon said with a laugh as he leaned over to kiss her. "Please don't take that as a complaint. It's been a life changing week." Naturally, he must have been exaggerating his physical condition a little, because the kiss actually quickly turned pretty intense. As soon as it broke she opened the car door.

"I guess it's time to buy a used car."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah subjected Casey to as much of a show of necking with Chuck as the cramped cabin would allow, which really wasn't all that much. It didn't matter anyway since he had his face firmly planted in the small window. Apparently he wasn't up for any necking pointers this morning. So Sarah sat back in her seat. After all, they did have some serious things to discuss. But there was time for one last little bit of fun. So she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Did you mean what you promised me last night?"

Sarah could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out what promise she was referring to. So she reminded him. "Any time, any place?" she asked slyly. "Remember? I'm thinking that a little mile high club action will shut Casey up forever."

Sarah couldn't keep in the wet laugh as the confusion on his face turned to pure wide-eyed terror. "I'm just teasing you," she quickly said. Then she turned to face Casey. Even though her next words were technically to Chuck, there could be no doubt to whom they were really directed to. "Don't worry, Chuck," she said with no trace of humor. "We don't have to put on that explicit of a show for Casey – yet. I'm sure he's learned his lesson."

Casey didn't respond, not with words anyway. He didn't even look away from the window. But the redness that was totally into his face told them both that the message had been clearly received.

"What is with you today?" Chuck asked with a grin. "You're in an incredibly good mood given the circumstances."

"Life is good," Sarah replied. "We're together again. That means everything. Of course I'm also really looking forward to talking to Ellie again. Then there's also the fact that I now have a new dad… and I get to help him make up with the two people I love most in the world."

Chuck's smile faded, a little. "I don't think you understand," he said. "Things with my dad are complicated."

"You don't think I understand about being let down by your dad?" she replied incredulously. "Wow, sweetie. Who do you think you're talking to? I'm the poster child for that." Then her sly smile returned. "He really wants a chance to explain himself. If it weren't for him, you'd still be in a bunker with Hannah Watkins. Besides, it's a given that you'll do anything that I ask you to. We both know that."

That got the laugh she was looking for. "You're getting pretty cocky," he said.

"Maybe," Sarah admitted with a sly smile. "But that doesn't mean it's not true. We both know that it is. Are you really going to try and deny it? Besides, that's not the only reason I'm in a good mood. There's the very real possibility that I might get to kick some bad-guy ass today. I've missed that lately… and someone's going to pay a big price for my very bad week."

"You're really looking forward to a fight," Chuck said. "Aren't you? Why?"

"I've got something to prove to you," she replied.

"Prove?" Chuck questioned. "What could you possibly have to prove to me?"

"Prove was the wrong word," Sarah quickly said. "Remind is probably more accurate. I need to remind you that the CIA Academy teaches us a lot more than just how to seduce men. I can't stand you thinking that it's a school for whores."

"Sarah," Chuck said softly. "I hope you're teasing. I've never thought anything close to that. Who would ever call you a whore? What moron would possibly say that?"

"I don't know," Sarah said with a grin.

"They never seem to leave their name."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon sat in the casino unenthusiastically playing a slot machine. He knew that it would take a few minutes for Ellie to join him. He had dumped his friend's car in the parking garage of a casino at the other end of the strip and caught a cab here just as Ellie had told him.

He characterized it as unenthusiastically just a minute ago. But that wasn't totally true. Wouldn't you know it? He had just hit a jackpot for a thousand dollars. That never happened to him. But then again, Ellie wasn't much for him throwing their hard earned dollars away into a stupid slot machine in the first place. So he hardly ever played. At least he would have some good news for Ellie when she showed up. And maybe it was a hopeful sign. After all, they could use a string of good luck.

Ellie had told him this was the last part of Sarah's plan. If they made it this far, they had either evaded the surveillance, or they were just being followed to see if they would lead them to Chuck and Sarah. If they saw men in blue suits, they were being followed. It would be hard for them to blend into the crowd in a casino. So when Ellie walked past him, his heart sank when he saw the four men in blue suits following her, just out of her sight.

This was horrible. All of this running around and they hadn't lost anybody. When Ellie finally made it back to him, he had to tell her the bad news. "There are four on you," he said sadly.

The sag in Ellie's shoulders was clear. "What do we do now?" she asked. The very real possibility of never seeing Chuck or Sarah again was staring her in the face.

"I have no idea," Devon sighed, and he was telling the truth. He didn't have a clue what to do next. But then fate, as so often happened with this family, intervened. A cocktail waitress in a barely there dress walked up and asked him if he wanted a drink – and the light bulb went on. So he leaned in to look at her nametag. "Yes, Misty," he said with a newfound grin. "Thank you. I most definitely would."

Ellie just looked puzzled at Devon's sudden turn around in moods. "Trust me, Babe," was all he would say.

"I have a plan."

x-x-x-x-x

They still had about an hour to go before they would be in Vegas. And Sarah was suddenly reminded of something that Casey had told her this morning. It had been driven out of her head by all of the excitement about Ellie. So she turned towards Casey. "Tell me about Beckman," she said. "Why is it complicated?"

It took Casey a moment to remember their conversation. "It's not really about Beckman," he finally said. "They just needed to keep her quiet after she figured out what their real plan is."

"And what's that?" Sarah asked.

"The Ring is going to take over the government," Casey said. "Orion knows the whole plan. He wouldn't tell me everything, but they are planning on assassinating the President. The Vice President is apparently the head of The Ring."

Sarah's jaw dropped. "So that's why they want Chuck so bad," she said.

"Yup," Casey said. "The military is key. The new President will be the Commander in Chief, but there will be factions not willing to accept martial law. They need the intersect to point out who's going to be against them. If The Ring is going to be successful, they are going to have to stomp out any resistance quickly and brutally. Otherwise, they'll have to deal with a civil war."

"Morons," Chuck said derisively. "Like I would ever help them."

"That's why they needed Sarah," Casey said softly. "That was their Plan B. They were hoping they could get you to fall in love with Agent Watkins and be with them willingly. But they had an ace card. What would you do to save Sarah from Daniel Shaw… well, doing bad things to her?"

Chuck didn't answer right away. He just looked out the window, clearly shaking with anger. "That bastard just made a serious enemy," was all he could finally mutter.

Sarah couldn't help the smile in spite of the seriousness of the conversation. Her guy was fighting mad on her behalf. How sweet was that? She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said. "I'm safe. He's never going to touch me."

Chuck finally reacted to her rubbing his arm and turned to face her. "He's dead," he said through gritted teeth. But when he saw her smiling, he couldn't help but eventually calm down and join her.

"Get in line," Sarah said, to break the tension more than anything. "What is Orion's plan?"

"He doesn't have one," Casey said. "That's the problem. He refuses to get involved. He says it's not our fight. His family has already paid enough."

"Good," Sarah said.

"Good?" Chuck asked in shock.

"Your dad is absolutely right," Sarah said. "He's looking out for us. We've paid enough. It's someone else's turn."

"Sarah," Chuck said softly. "It's what you've spent your entire adult life fighting for."

"Not any more," Sarah said firmly. "Life's too short. I'm done fighting, watching the people that I love being forced to make ridiculous sacrifices. I have a life now. We should just go someplace and start over. I want to start our family."

"Not one percent as much as I do," Chuck said. "But how can we raise a family with this threat out there? It will eventually find us."

"Not if we do this right," Sarah said. "Besides, it's moot. Without Orion we have no chance anyway."

"That's true," Chuck agreed. "But I know someone who can talk him into it."

"Who?" Sarah asked. Then she realized that Chuck was talking about her. "Forget it," she said quickly. "Even if I could, why would I? I'm against this."

"Here's the thing," Chuck said with a smile. "You'll eventually come to see it my way. I have a conversation that I need to have with Daniel Shaw. Besides, it's a given that you'll do anything that I ask you to. We both know that."

Casey was clearly enjoying the red that was up Sarah's neck and well into her face. "I have to admit," he said mockingly. "The nerd is not right all that often. But when he is right, he's right."

Sarah could only shake her head. What could she say? He was so clearly right. Any denial would be silly. So she just smiled as much as she could. "Damn," she finally said in mock disgust as she clicked off the autopilot and prepared to make her approach into Vegas.

"Being head over heels in love can really suck."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty Collins wasn't all that tired, even though her shift was up in ten minutes. She was really more bored than anything. And even more than bored, disillusioned. She had heard all the stories of how the cocktail waitresses in Vegas made six figure incomes. So six months ago when her cousin told her about the opening at the Casino where he worked as a dealer right on the strip, she decided to come and check it out. It sure sounded exciting.

Misty really never thought of herself as all that pretty. Oh, men were always after her. But she had dark hair. All of the really pretty girls were blondes, right? Men kept telling her how beautiful she was, but then again Mom had always told her that men would say anything to get you in bed. And when she looked at all the other beautiful women sitting in that waiting room to be interviewed she was positive that she had no chance. But to her surprise, she got the job fairly easily.

One good thing. All of the other girls had to come up with exotic sounding names. Misty already sounded like a stripper's name. And it was actually her name, courtesy of mom. She wasn't sure why, something about the weather on the drive to the hospital. With the name down all that was left was the hard part, pouring herself into that ridiculously skimpy outfit. She almost couldn't make herself do it. As it was, the first few nights Misty walked around with a perpetual blush on her face. It was as close to being naked as she ever had been in public.

The job itself was ridiculously easy. She had worked as a waitress in a sports bar in her junior year in college so this was child's play, boring, but easy. And once you got used to the idea of strange men gawking at your mostly exposed chest, it wasn't all that bad.

One thing she quickly found out, the tales of how much money she could make were greatly exaggerated. Maybe there were girls that did really well, but you had to be in the right casino, and more importantly, the right shift. Working the early evening shift was the worst, far too many grandmas and not nearly enough drunk big tippers.

Of course, she was offered opportunities to supplement her income about ten times a night. After all, this was Vegas… where money could buy anything. The men just assumed that every woman who worked here was also a pro. Oh, she knew that some of her co-workers turned the occasional trick. They weren't even bashful about it. They seemed almost boastful as they told some pretty wild stories. Of course, technically it was all very much against the rules. If you got caught, you would be immediately fired. But that's not why Misty had never accepted any of the offers. After all, management clearly looked the other way as long as you were discreet and let the men come to you. Besides, if she was fired, it wasn't all that great of a job anyway.

It wasn't that she was a prude or anything. Misty had always been open to new experiences. No, she simply didn't want to think of herself as a whore. And no matter how much her new friends trying to rationalize it, when you took money for sex, there wasn't much wiggle room, that's what you were. She didn't have to come to Vegas to do that. She had an accounting degree. Besides, she could be a whore back home in Iowa. Hell, if she wanted to be a whore she could do something really exciting… like maybe become a CIA Agent. But she had to admit, in this city she was pretty unique in that attitude… and Vegas was quickly wearing it down.

So when this amazing looking man asked her if she wanted to make a quick thousand dollars, she sighed to herself. Why not? She had to admit, Mr. Gorgeous here was Misty's dream guy. He had it all, tall, sandy hair, broad shoulders, disarming smile. He was quite possibly the best looking man she had ever seen. She wasn't even sure why he thought he had to pay. Hell, maybe she should offer to pay him. It wouldn't have taken all that much sweet talking for him to get her into his room just for fun. And a thousand dollars was many multiples of the current going rate, even for the whole night. Then she saw her. He wasn't wearing a wedding ring. But from their body language, that was clearly his wife with him. What he was really after suddenly became instantly clear. This was apparently a fairly common request.

Misty was simply too tired to fight this any more. After all, she already had the hooker's name. She was certainly wearing the right outfit. She was most definitely looking for an adventure. And she had to admit, this would be an exciting first for her… on multiple levels. Last but certainly not least, a thousand dollars would come in mighty handy right now. So she just sighed. "Why not? What specifically do you have in mind?"

Devon's face instantly turned as red as a stop sign as he realized what he must have just sounded like. Not only that, Ellie was glaring at him with her laser beam eyes, the ones that could cut through solid steel. "I'm so sorry," he quickly stammered, as much to Ellie as to Misty. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Misty looked at the man standing there sweating. The blush that was into his face was well beyond cute. Misty looked into his eyes and something amazing happened. She wasn't sure she even believed in love, much less love at first sight. But she definitely saw something in those blue eyes that she liked. Actually, she liked it a lot. Clearly conducting this particular class of business transaction was a first for him as well. His nervousness was so cute that it calmed her down a little. She even felt sorry for him a little. So she decided to make things easy for him. After all, she needed a little adventure in her life, right? "Don't be embarrassed," she said softly as she smiled and handed him his drink. "This is Vegas. I'm sure that we can work things out to everyone's satisfaction."

Once Misty made the decision, she discovered that she was actually looking forward to the experience. Besides, what harm could possibly come from taking a chance this one time, right?

Isn't it funny how life works? Misty had reached a low point in her life. She had been worn down by circumstance. More than that, she had settled for what life had thrown at her. What she didn't know was that she had just made a decision that would change her life forever. Misty Collins wasn't a hooker, or even a cocktail waitress… and she would never settle again.

She was destined for greatness.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was deployed about a quarter mile in front of the motel in a little suburb town that was Ellie's destination. Sarah and Chuck were in the car about a hundred yards down and across the road. Suddenly Casey's voice crackled in her ear. "I have her," he said. "She's alone. No sign of Devon. There's also no sign of any tail."

Sarah carefully surveyed the scene for any sign of a trap. It would be impossible to hide any aerial surveillance. Any aircraft would stick out like a sore thumb. There was always satellite, but Orion had promised to take care of that. So Sarah had Chuck drive the car and pull right next to her.

The first thing that Sarah did was sweep Ellie for bugs. When the sweep came up clean, she quickly pushed Chuck out of the way and threw her arms around her. They held each other for a long moment. Finally she gave Chuck a turn. Sarah didn't give them long before she snapped into action. "Let's get out of here," she said.

As soon as they picked up Casey and he drove them away, Sarah called Orion. "They have her," he said sadly. "Come back and we'll make plans for our next move."

"They have her?" Sarah asked incredulously. "Dad, what do you mean they have her? She's sitting right here in the car with me."

"I just heard the agents in the field report to Shaw," Steven said. "She lost them for most of the day. But they had a bug in her purse all this time. That led them right to where they were in Vegas. The agents told Shaw they had just picked up the sister and her fiancé outside of Vegas. They are supposedly in route."

Suddenly Sarah realized what Ellie was wearing. Well, actually what she almost wasn't wearing. "Ellie," she said. "Where is your purse right now? And why are you dressed like that?"

"Yeah," Chuck chimed in. "Good question."

Ellie looked at her brother with narrowed eyes. "The doctor thing really wasn't working out for me," she said sarcastically. "I heard that Vegas cocktail waitresses make a killing. So I decided to try my luck."

In spite of the situation, Sarah couldn't keep in the wet laugh. "Where is Devon?" she asked, ignoring Chuck for the moment. "Who is with him? What's going on?"

"Devon is with a cocktail waitress named Misty who is currently wearing my clothes and plainly wouldn't mind also wearing my fiancé," she said with her own laugh. "We decided to split up to try and lose them. She has my purse. This was all Devon's brilliant idea. He's been looking for an excuse to get me to take off my bra all day. This is what he finally came up with. Apparently it's a new invention of his. He calls it Slutty Ellie." Then Ellie shifted her tone. "Sarah," she said excitedly. "Did you just refer to someone on the phone as your dad? Is your dad here?"

"It's a long story," Sarah sighed. "I'll tell you all about it in the plane." Then she turned her attention back to the phone. "Dad," she said. "Negative. They don't have Ellie. They haveDevonand a cocktail waitress wearing Ellie's clothes."

"I can't wait to meet your dad," Ellie said excitedly. "How did you find him?"

"Sarah wasn't talking to her dad," Chuck said with a half smile. "She was talking to ours. They are now best buds. If we don't hurry up and get married, he's probably half way through the process of adopting her. It's the damnest thing you've ever heard of."

Casey spoke up for the first time with his own grin. "That's not the damnest thing," he said. "Not even close."

"I'll bet Sarah's new best bud can't wait to meet Slutty Ellie."

x-x-x-x-x


	11. The Empire Strikes Back

_I actually had the title for this picked out before Monday's Star Wars references._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Empire Strikes Back**

x-x-x-x-x

Misty was still trying to get used to the idea of wearing another woman's clothes, especially ones so conservative. She wasn't exactly used to wearing a bra anyway and she definitely hadn't worn this plain of one since she was sixteen. It felt… odd. "Let me get this straight," she said as she got into the car. "You want me to pretend to be your wife for the evening."

"Exactly," Devon said. "Her name is Ellie. Except we're not married yet. We're only engaged."

Misty looked over at Devon. He was clearly beyond nervous. He kept looking out the windows and checking the mirrors as he drove, obviously trying to avoid having to look at her. It was beyond cute. He was so nervous that it actually calmed her down. She suddenly felt sorry for him. She knew that she would have to take some measure of control if this fantasy of his was going to turn out well. "No problem," she said. "So I'm your prim and proper fiancé, Ellie. What does she call you?"

"Mostly Devon," he said as he turned to look at her to try and get a read on her expression. "Sometimes she calls me Sweetie, but mostly just Devon. Why?"

With him actually looking at her for the first time, Misty put on her most relaxed smile. If she relaxed, maybe he would too. "I want to stay in character," she said. "You've paid me a lot of money, Devon. I want to make sure that you get your monies worth."

"I don't think you understand," Devon said. "When I asked you if you were up for an adventure, that's just what I meant. These guys who are following Ellie are not messing around. I don't think they will do anything to us. They are just going to follow us… but still."

Misty turned towards him and grinned. This was certainly more involved than the typical trick her friends were always telling her about. But that wasn't all bad. The typical trick sounded kinda gross. This was fun. "Danger is my business," she said mockingly with a laugh. She quickly found that she couldn't stop staring at him. His awkwardness was so incredibly cute. "Devon," she said softly. "Would it be okay if I asked what you do for a living? I'm not trying to get personal."

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Devon asked with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm a heart surgeon."

Misty's grin broadened. "I figured it was something like that. You're really going all out for this, aren't you? How long have you been planning this?"

"We haven't planned it at all," Devon said with a sigh. "That's the problem. It just came up today."

"Whose idea was this?" Misty asked. "Be honest with me. You're way too nervous for it to have been your idea. You're doing this all for Ellie aren't you?"

Now Devon was really confused. "Of course," he said. "Who else?"

"Come on, Devon," Misty said. "Ellie didn't just think of this today. It's been in her head a while, right?"

"I guess," Devon said haltingly. "She did have the cash ready. But she only told me about it this morning."

"You're really sweet to go along with it," Misty said. "She's really a lucky girl. Look, Devon. This is clearly your first time… and you're not all that crazy about it. Am I right?"

Devon's face turned red as he nodded. "Is it that obvious?" he asked. "I'm not used to all this intrigue at all… but… I have to."

Misty actually saw red for a long moment. So this was the fiancé's fantasy. What kind of bitch must this Ellie person be? Here was this sweet, incredibly good looking doctor, and she was making him put on a show for her. Misty decided right then. This was no longer about money. She was going to make sure that Devon had a good time too. So she forced the smile on her face. "Yes, it really is obvious," she said. "Don't be embarrassed. It's kinda cute. I have a confession to make, Devon. I know that you're probably not going to believe this, but it's actually my first time doing anything like this as well. So why don't we make a deal? We'll do everything that your fiancé expects. But you and I will forget about everything else, relax, and just have fun with this. I think it will make the entire evening go smoother. I'll just sit here for a while and be Ellie. When you want something else, I'll assume you'll let me know."

Finally Devon breathed a sigh of relief. That actually made a lot of sense. Hopefully the agents that were following them were fooled and that would be the end of it. So he allowed himself to return her smile. "Thank you," he said. "You're really being a trouper about this."

"You're welcome," she said. "I have to admit, this isn't anything like I thought it would be." That was the complete truth. Misty always thought she would feel cheap. But this was absolutely nothing like the impersonal quickie-in-his-hotel-room sessions her friends always talked about. The fact of the matter was she found herself getting more and more excited… in more ways than one. He was so unbelievably dreamy. The honest truth was she was about ready to start ripping his clothes off right there in the car. So she grabbed his hand that was resting on the console.

Devon looked down at his hand, and the ten, one-hundred dollar bills that she had just pressed into it. "What's this?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Devon," Misty said. "I'm just not that person. I really thought I could be, but… I can't. Now, let's get on with giving your fiancé what she wants… and I'll keep my amateur status. This is actually kind of exciting for me too. Now that I'm a volunteer I hope that's allowed."

Devon was admittedly more than a little confused. But her soft smile was so relaxing. "Of course it's allowed," he said. "Ellie was just telling me that exact same thing a little earlier. She was excited too. Okay, I'll try and relax. You're right. Let's just roll with it."

"Relaxed is good," Misty said softly. "Of course, when we get back together with her, you're going to have to give me some direction. Does she want to watch? Or does she want you to watch?"

Devon's head snapped up as he turned to her in confusion. Then he finally figured out what she meant. His mouth opened but he was too stunned to speak.

Misty's smile turned decidedly sly. "Maybe I can help you to relax," she said in the sexiest voice she could come up with. "Tell me, Devon," she said as she reached over and ran her hand up the inside of his thigh.

"Does Ellie like to get freaky in the car?"

x-x-x-x-x

"I thought we agreed," the Vice President said as he took a sip of the scotch that he had just poured. "I didn't want to see you alive again until you had him. You're here. It looks like you're still breathing. That must mean you have him, right?"

Shaw was clearly uncomfortable. "Not yet, sir," he said. "But I do have a plan. We've figured out how they broke Bartowski out so easily. They were tapped into our video surveillance system. We're going to pick up his sister."

The V.P. smiled. "So," he said. "You're going to make them watch while you do what you're famous for doing to women. Get Bartowski to surrender to save his sister from becoming your yes-girl. Is that about right?"

Shaw breathed a sigh of relief at his boss's mood. "Exactly," he said. "I'm sure that he'll quickly try and negotiate something. Then we'll have him."

"Well," the V.P. said in mock sweetness. "I'm sure that you've already thought of this, being such a genius and all. But there are some things you might want to consider."

There was something in his tone that gave Shaw pause. "Yes, sir?" he asked cautiously.

The V.P.'s demeanor suddenly changed. "Do you seriously think that they will just be watching without recording?" he asked with a growl. "This woman is not only a civilian, she's a national hero. What happens when the press gets the tape of you abusing her? Do the words 'win the battle, lose the war' mean anything at all to you?"

Shaw swallowed. "Yes, sir," he said.

The V.P. walked to the door and opened it, his classic signal that the meeting was over. "This had damn well better work, moron," he growled. "Or I won't have you killed myself. I'll see that you're turned over to Casey and Walker."

"I'll bet they would have a good old time getting revenge."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was in full Agent Walker mode. That meant blocking out any emotions not related to the mission. And right now, the mission was trying to rescue Devon. "Where are they taking him," she asked Orion on the phone. "How many agents?"

Steven knew exactly what she was thinking. If they could get to Devon before they had him in a fortified facility, a rescue would be much easier. "They are headed for the secure tarmac at McCarran," he said. "I believe there are only four agents with him. But you have to hurry. There will be many more waiting there."

Sarah turned to Casey. "McCarran," she said forcefully. That was all Casey needed as he spun the wheels of the car aggressively in the dusty road. Then she turned her attention back to the phone. "Do you know their exact location?"

"I'll try and tap into the bug that is still in Ellie's purse," Steven said. "Hold one."

Sarah turned her attention to Chuck and Ellie to brief them. "They have picked up Devon," she said. "We're on our way to try and rescue him." She grabbed Chuck's hand. "You're the one they're really after," she said softly. "You understand what that means, right? We don't have time to drop you anyplace, and you're not leaving my sight anyway. I think you know what I expect from you."

Chuck recognized the tone of Agent Walker giving her asset instructions very well. He simply sighed.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Come on, Chuck," she said warningly. "I understand that our relationship has evolved. You're might not be my asset any longer but I'm still going to be fanatical about protecting you… probably even more now than I was before. I need your help."

He didn't say anything, he just nodded.

Sarah smiled… a little. "You know me better than that," she said. "I need to hear you say it. Chuck, please don't make me get dig out those stupid flannel pajamas again. Please? I hate wearing those things."

"Okay, Sarah," Chuck sighed. "I'll stay in the stupid car. Happy?"

Sarah nodded.

"Wait a minute," Chuck said. "I need to hear you say it. That's fair, right?"

Sarah's smile relaxed… a bit. That was her guy. How did he always know how to make her smile? "Yes, Chuck," she said in mock annoyance. "I'm happy."

"Good," Chuck said with his eyes blazing. "I see you didn't unbutton any extra buttons so I assume that seduction is ruled out as a tactic this evening."

"You assume correctly," Sarah said as he got the grin he was looking for. Then she turned to Ellie. "I guess I don't have to worry about you," she said as she ejected the clip from her gun and looked at it critically. Finally satisfied that nothing had changed since ten minutes ago when she last checked it, she slammed it back into place.

"I'm not sure I liked the sound of that," Ellie said mockingly. "I can get into just as much trouble as little brother here. Don't you remember Mexico? Hello. Getting semi-naked with drug runners?"

"Hey," Chuck responded. "It was no where close to the same. For one thing, how do you get semi-naked? It's an oxymoron. You're either naked or you're not. Besides, Sarah might have been a little concerned while you were in the back room playing Slutty Doctor Ellie with Amado Carrillo Fuentes. I was fighting four men and knocked unconscious. Sarah thought I was dead. It's quite really apples and oranges."

"Why is it apples and oranges?" Ellie asked sarcastically with her eyes flashing. "Because I succeeded in my assignment and you failed in yours?"

"Okay," Sarah said with a laugh as she held up her hand to stop the sibling bickering. "You're both huge pains in the ass. Happy? Thanks for adding even more to my anxiety. But I need you both to understand something. We're going to try our best to rescue Devon before they get him someplace secure. We might have an advantage of surprise. But it's a long shot. We're undermanned and outgunned. And what they really want is Chuck. We can't let that happen at all cost. Their second choice is me, then Ellie. None of those things can happen. And if that means they take Devon…"

Sarah's heart broke at the look on Ellie's face. "Don't worry," she said. "I promise we're going to get him back for you. It just might not be today. Your dad will have a plan."

Ellie's eyes quickly lost any hint of the humor she had been displaying. "You mean your new best bud?" she asked sarcastically.

"I don't think I have a dad."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon had to react quickly to grab Misty's hand before she reached… umm… paydirt. He quickly pulled the car off the road. "We need to talk," he said. "This is not what I had in mind at all."

Actually Misty found Devon's protest fairly unconvincing. She also found it incredibly, unbelievably cute. And her grin made no pretext of how much she was enjoying herself. "I'm sorry," she said in faux-regret. "Okay, so I adlibbed a little. But come on, Devon. Don't you really think you need to relax a little? I'm just trying to help. It would actually help me to relax as well. Don't you want that?"

Unfortunately, Devon didn't have time to answer her. Two cars suddenly pulled up. One pulled in front of the car and the other in back blocking any possible escape. Four agents with their guns drawn quickly surrounded the car. They were ordered to step out of the car. Really having no choice, Devon and Misty got out of the car. They were quickly pushed face first against the car, frisked, and their hands were cuffed behind their backs.

As they were turned to face their assailants, Misty couldn't keep the grin from her face. "Damn, Devon," she said. "Just how much money did you spend on this fantasy anyway? You must really be trying to impress her."

The man who was clearly in charge stepped up to them. "No talking," he growled. Then he paused. "As a matter of fact," he said as he fired his weapon twice. "This will make things a lot easier."

Misty looked down to see a dart sticking out of her chest. As the blackness overtook her, she was left with one last coherent thought. "I hope she's worth it."

"This must have cost him a fortune."

x-x-x-x-x

With Orion giving them directions on the phone, Casey was able to get ahead of the crew that were delivering Devon and Misty. Unfortunately, the only spot where they could quickly set up an ambush was dangerously close to the airport. That meant that reinforcements were only a few seconds away. Casey parked the car in a convenience store lot a few hundred yards away from the ambush spot they had picked. Sarah only had time for a quick "stay in the car" before she got out and followed Casey as they ran.

They still had their earpieces in from earlier, but they really didn't need them. They had been partners for so long that they instinctively took up flanking positions on either side of the street.

Sarah knelt behind the parked car as she saw the column of three vehicles approach. They clearly weren't expecting any trouble. The first and third cars were being driven by a lone agent. The middle car had two agents in the front seat and what must be Devon and the cocktail waitress in the back. It was hard to see since they both were slumped.

Casey quickly made his attack strategy. "Let the first car pass,' he said into her ear. As soon as the second car is even with us, target the tires on the first car. I'll take the third. Then we'll both take out the men on our side of the second car."

The first part of the plan worked pretty much the way Casey described it. They had the two cars disabled and two agents dead before they even knew what had hit them. And if Devon had been conscious, he probably would have been able to make a run for it and they could have all gotten away. Unfortunately, he wasn't. And even worse, they were not alone. There were plainly other agents in the area. They must have been deployed to defend against just such an attack.

Casey and Sarah quickly found themselves pinned down by gunfire from seemingly several directions. Rescuing Devon was now no longer a reasonable objective. Simply escaping themselves was looking more and more doubtful. Suddenly it all went south. Sarah was tackled by an agent who came running up from behind her. He was brandishing a large knife and before she was able to control him, he was able to slash her arm. They actually rolled on the ground wrestling for a long moment. Sarah was forced to concentrate on avoiding being killed by the knife so she was fairly defenseless from his other hand. She took a few serious blows from his left hand before she was finally able to separate herself enough to kick him unconscious, more by instinct than anything. Then she collapsed back onto the pavement. But her position was no longer tenable. During the fight, she had become somewhat disorientated and had rolled away from the car that she had been using as cover. To make matters worse, her gun had been kicked away during the scuffle and in her semi-conscious haze she had no idea where it was. Through the fog that was now swirling around in her head, she could see several agents running in her direction. She wasn't even sure where Casey was. The situation looked pretty grim.

Suddenly a car screeched up. "Get in," Chuck shouted. He had driven the car between her and the approaching agents, shielding her from any shooting. Just before Sarah completely lost consciousness she could feel Casey pick her up and basically throw her into the car. Chuck sped off before he even had the car door closed.

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was the smelling salts that Ellie was holding under her nose. She quickly twisted her head to avoid the sharp smell. "Where are we?" she asked.

"We're just about back to the plane," Casey said over his shoulder from the driver's seat. Plainly, he had Chuck stop and switched places with him. "Can you get the plane into the air? Then you can relax for a while. But we really need to get out of the area. If not, we're going to have to find someplace to hide for the night."

Sarah tried to lift her head off Ellie's lap but her friend held it in place. "Just relax for a minute," she said firmly. "You took a couple of major blows."

"I think so," Sarah moaned. "Where's Chuck?"

"How did I know that's the first question you would ask?" Ellie laughed. "Don't worry. Chuck hasn't gone anyplace. He's right here." Indeed, Chuck reached back from the shotgun seat and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it tightly.

Ellie held up a couple of fingers. "Do you have any double vision?" she asked. "How many fingers do you see?"

"I'm not sure," Sarah groaned. "I'm afraid to answer. I think I see two fingers. But I also think my doctor is dressed like a hooker. Maybe I'm hallucinating."

Ellie smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as she gently helped Sarah into a sitting position. "I think you're going to be okay," she said. "We'll wait until we're in the plane to stitch up your arm. It looks like it's going to take eight, maybe nine."

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get Devon," Sarah said sadly. "I tried my best."

"Don't ever apologize," Ellie said as she hugged her. "You just risked your life trying. It looks like now I have to depend on my dad. Maybe he can actually come through for me for once."

As Sarah regained more of her faculties, she eventually turned to Chuck. "Why did you leave where I left you?" she asked. "I thought we had an agreement."

"Our agreement didn't cover watching you get killed," Chuck said firmly. "If that means I have to endure a night of flannel pajamas, I guess I'll have to endure it. Something tells me you're not going to be in much of a mood for pajamas, or lack thereof, to make much difference tonight anyway."

"I'll give you a pass this once," Sarah said with as much smile as her pounding head would allow. "Saving my life has to count for something."

"Besides, technically you did stay in the car."

x-x-x-x-x


	12. Old Boyfriends and New Girlfriends

_It's been a busy week in the Chuck fandom. A finale, a wedding, and a fifth and final season. Now that we know that we have the show until at least the end of the year, I think I am going to slow down and tell a longer story. I'll post a chapter a week, perhaps more if I get ahead. But I would like to end this story sometime after the season starts._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Old Boyfriends and New Girlfriends**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was pretty used to the after affects of her body being abused on missions. After all, you didn't get into tens years worth of fights without the other guy getting a shot or two of his own in sometimes. She had been knocked unconscious a couple of times. It certainly wasn't the first time she had taken stitches either. She had to admit, she couldn't remember ever getting knocked out and taking stitches in the same fight before. But, all in all, she wasn't feeling all that badly.

For one thing, she had her own personal Emergency Room Doctor treating her like… well, the sister that she was. Fortunately Ellie no longer went anywhere without her medical bag full of supplies. She learned her lesson on that one during her last adventure with Chuck and Sarah. So she was able to put the twelve stitches in Sarah's right arm as soon as the auto pilot took over the flying duties. Naturally, Sarah had to take off her shirt… and her lacy bra wasn't exactly modest. So in that manner, both doctor and patient were actually dressed somewhat similarly. She had to try hard to keep from laughing at poor Chuck in the back seat. He and Casey were cuddled by necessity in the cramped quarters. That was awkward enough. But they were also trying hard to look anyplace except for the obvious.

But the real reason Sarah wasn't feeling all that badly didn't become apparent until they had landed. And actually it was something of a surprise. Agent Walker was pretty well known in spy circles for not wanting help. As a matter of fact, a sure fire way to get under her skin was to suggest that she needed help. It had started more than one fight in the past. So Casey was more than a little stunned when she allowed Chuck to physically carry her in his arms from the plane to the van.

Sarah physically felt relatively fine. For one thing, the vicodin that Ellie gave her in the plane just before they landed was starting to kick in. She most certainly could have walked to the van. Truth be told, she could have carried Chuck to the van. But it felt so good to be babied for once… by the one person in the world who could get away with it. As soon as they got inside Chuck gently helped her into the back seat. Then he found a blanket, wrapped it around them, and cuddled with her.

It was one of those moments that you never wanted to end. Sure they had problems. Devon had to be rescued. The Ring's plot had to be stopped. They were still on the run from the entire U.S. government with shoot-to-kill targets on their backs. She had no idea how to get Chuck and Ellie to even sit down and listen to their dad, much less reconcile with him. But that all seemed a million miles away as Sarah allowed herself to get lost in the warm glow from the drug… and the even warmer glow from having Chuck's arms wrapped around her, surrounding her with the feeling of comfort, safety, and just plain happiness.

They were both sound asleep leaning on each other before Casey even had the van on the freeway.

Ellie watched them with somewhat mixed feelings. Yes, she was more than a little frantic about Devon. After all, she didn't know where he was, who had him, or what they wanted. And it now seemed that her only hope to get him back in one piece was to depend on the dad that she had come to accept that she could never depend on. But she couldn't help but smile softly as she looked at them cuddled together sleeping in that back seat. They both looked like they didn't have a care in the world. "Have you ever imagined two people more in love?" she asked, far more to herself than to Casey.

Casey didn't take his eyes off the road. If fact, he conspicuously didn't look at her at all. But to her surprise, he answered with more than his usual grunt. "I really haven't," he said. "If you only knew the list of men who have taken their shot at her."

"Bryce Larkin?" Ellie asked skeptically. "He's not her type. I know he is probably good looking. But come on."

"Bryce isn't even in the top third," Casey said. "There have been billionaires, princes, and jet set playboys of every type and shape. They were all itching to take their shot at the challenge of bagging the famous, untamable Sarah Walker. She shot them all down without so much as a second glance… and not only does she end up with Chuck Bartowski, she looks like the cheerleader who just got asked to the prom by the quarterback. Go figure."

Ellie wasn't quite sure how she really felt about John. When she first met him, she honestly thought of him as on the edge of creepy, and maybe even a little bit over the edge. But then she learned that he was part of the team that was protecting her brother, so that earned him a few points. Chuck spoke as highly of him as he did anyone. That had to count for something. Devon had just spent a couple of weeks with him. It would certainly be nothing short of gross overstatement to call them close friends. But Devon came away actually liking him. Not that it meant all that much, Devon liked everyone.

There was still the little matter of the surveillance cameras in virtually every corner of her home to deal with. John Casey had most assuredly seen her naked on multiple occasions and in the most intimate of circumstance. She still had every intention of having a not-so-gentle discussion with him soon to formally register her outrage. But she had to admit, this was the most human she had ever witnessed him being. Maybe she could cut him a bit of slack. And the way he avoided gawking at her dressed in that ridiculously revealing, barely there halter top. It was kinda cute. "I guess the girl just has high standards," she said with a smile.

"She held out until she found what she was looking for."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty struggled to wake from her dream. The real struggle was that she really didn't want to wake. The dream was so, well, dreamy. Here she was floating on a cloud, cuddled with the best looking guy she had ever seen. Best looking didn't even begin to cover it. This Devon was the most amazing male specimen she could imagine. And a heart surgeon to boot? That was almost too good to be true.

But eventually, the whine in her ear forced her to open her eyes. And when she did, there was some good news… and some bad news. The good news was that she was, indeed cuddled with Devon. He actually had his arms around her as he also slept. Apparently, he was dreaming as well. So that was very, very good. Unfortunately the bad news was, well, puzzling. They were in some kind of airplane.

Devon was starting to stir himself, so Misty gently slapped his face. Just before he opened his eyes, she pressed her lips to his and kissed him. Clearly Devon was still dreaming because he kissed back. And actually, it was anything but just a simple kiss. Their tongues danced for quite a long moment. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he quickly broke the kiss. "I'm so sorry," he quickly said. "I was dreaming. I thought you were Ellie."

Okay, so Misty wasn't to wild about being drugged. That seemed substantially over the line for some kind of an adventure fantasy. But that no longer mattered. She was on cloud nine. Sure, she had kissed her fair share of men before. But never had she experienced the huge amount of electricity that had just flowed between them. It very well might have been the high point of her life. "Don't be sorry," she said with a contented smile. "I'm not sorry, not even a little bit. And actually, tonight I am Ellie, remember? I must be. I'm wearing her bra."

Devon quickly looked around. It was clearly a private jet of some kind. In fact, it was the very same plane that Chuck had ridden in some ten days ago. It had ten or so seats… but he and Misty were the only ones in the cabin. They were completely unsecured. But just like Chuck ten days ago, where were they going to go? "Where are we?" he asked.

Misty smiled. "Come on, Devon," she said. "If you don't know, then we're in big trouble. How could Ellie have set this all up in one day? She's been planning this for a long, long time. Just how much did this adventure cost you anyway?"

Devon looked out the window. The irony was that Ellie was currently only a few miles away. Not that he would ever know but she was in the plane just five miles to the left… and about three miles below. But all he could see was darkness. "Listen to me," he said softly and firmly. "Look into my eyes and hear what I'm telling you. I've been trying to tell you all night. This is not a game."

That was the first time that Misty was starting to get an uneasy feeling about this. "What do you mean?" she asked. "If you didn't set this up, who are these guys? Where are they taking us?"

Devon was beside himself. "I'm so sorry for getting you involved in this," he said in pure panic. "I really didn't think they would do anything but follow us. I'm not totally sure who they are. I think they might be with the CIA."

Suddenly Misty's dislike for whoever this Ellie person was grew by a full measure. "The CIA?" she questioned incredulously. "What is Ellie into that the CIA wants her?"

"It's not Ellie," Devon said quickly. "They're after her brother. I'm not totally sure why myself. I'm so sorry. Don't worry. I'll tell them you're not Ellie and they'll let you go."

Misty thought about it for a long moment. "No they won't," she finally said. "If they would kidnap two private citizens off a public street, they must be serious. If they find out I'm not Ellie, I just become a complication. Do you know what happens to complications?"

Pure surprise overcame Devon's panic, for a moment anyway. "I see what you mean," he said, clearly concerned. "I really don't think they will do anything to you. But I agree that we won't risk it. We'll pretend that you're Ellie until we figure out what it is exactly that they want."

There was one thing about Misty. She was a pragmatist. She always had been. And if she was in this weird situation, why not make the best of it? And there was clearly one way to do that. Staring into his eyes, even as panicked as he obviously was, all she could see was where she definitely wanted to be. "Good," she said as she snuggled back into Devon's side. "One thing is for sure. To fool them, we're going to have to be believable as an engaged couple."

"Let's practice."

x-x-x-x-x

"Hello, Eleanor," Steven said as soon as her and Casey stepped into the room. If he was surprised at the way she was dressed, he didn't say anything about it. For her part, Ellie wasn't going to give an emotional inch. She just stood there sullenly in her barely there cocktail waitress outfit, hands firmly on her hips, and glared at him. "It's good to see you. Your brother tells me that you're a doctor. I'm very proud of you."

"I can't say that I'm proud of you," Ellie snapped. "You were going to make pancakes."

In site of the incredible tenseness that permeated the room, Steven could help but smile. "My God," he said. "I can't get over how much you look exactly like your mother when you're angry. Trust me. I'm something of an expert at that. I've missed seeing you so much. I understand that I have some serious explaining to do to you."

Casey grunted as he sat down Ellie's bags. "I assume you got another room," he said.

"I did," Steven said as he handed Casey a key. "It's next door."

"Wait," Ellie said in alarm. "Where are you going?"

"He's going to his own room, Eleanor," Steven said. "Three people can't stay here. There are only two beds."

"I'll take the other room," Ellie snapped.

"Sorry," Casey said. The sparkle in his eyes told everybody that he was enjoying her awkward discomfort. "With the security situation the way it is, you can't be alone. I don't think you would be very welcome over with Chuck and Sarah. I suppose that you could come next door with me. Good luck explaining to Devon that you chose to spend the night with me over your dad."

Ellie just stood there and glared.

"Oh, by the way," Casey said with a grin as he twisted the knife. "I don't own a pair of pajamas… in case that factors at all into your decision making."

But to Casey's surprise, Ellie didn't answer right away. She was clearly considering her options. One thing for sure, she didn't have any worries about Devon. He had been very cool about her two weeks rooming with Cole. Of course, he had never actually seen Cole, but still. Besides, that smirk on John's face was really getting annoying. Sarah had told her all about how he liked to jab at people. Maybe she could turn that smirk upside down. And anything had to be better than sharing the room with Dad. "No pajamas, huh?" she said thoughtfully. "What are we talking about? Boxers? Or briefs?"

Casey wasn't expecting that question… at all. So his response was somewhat less than smooth. "Umm… boxers."

Ellie's smirk turned sinister. "Well, John," she said as she picked up her bag. "I think that I can handle boxers. On the other hand, it only seems fair to tell you that I wear bikini briefs. But I guess you know all about that, having seen two years of surveillance footage of me getting ready for bed. I don't have any pajamas with me either. But then again you've already seen everything that I have. It might actually be justice for me to see you getting ready for bed for once, don't you think?"

Casey's face turned beet red but he didn't respond.

Ellie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at him. "Maybe we can discuss how it feels to have your personal space violated like that," she said. "Okay. Let's go."

x-x-x-x-x

Okay, so Sarah again let Chuck carry her from the van to the hotel room. But there was no longer any pretense of it being at all medical. The bruised section of her ribs was still a little sore from where she had taken a couple punches. And she could begin to feel the pull from the stitches in her arm where the local anesthetic had worn off. But this was clearly not required. This was pure romance. In fact they were both giggling even before he even got to the door. It got even worse when he realized that he needed the key to unlock the door… and it was in his wallet.

"You do realize," Sarah said as soon as she could stop laughing enough to get the words out, "that dropping the girl sort of negates any romantic benefit the guy would get from carrying her in he first place."

"I understand that," Chuck said as he fumbled trying to open his wallet and extract the key with his one free hand. "Trust me. The guy is going to do his best. After all, he needs all the romantic benefit he can get."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Sarah said. "After all, saving the girl's life usually counts as an automatic get-the-guy-lucky-that-night card."

Chuck was still fumbling with his wallet. "Someday," he said. "You're going to have to tell me the complete set of rules." Finally he was able to open the door. They stumbled awkwardly into the dark room. Even though they were still uncontrollably giggling, Sarah had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her lips firmly pressed to his. Chuck had every intention on carrying her directly to the bed… and then maybe playing his newly awarded lucky card when, suddenly, unexpected, the lights came on.

The last thing in the world Sarah was expecting at that point was any trouble. She had lost her gun in the earlier battle. But it still only took her about a second before she was standing with a knife in her hand, with Chuck pushed behind her, ready to face the threat standing opposite them in the room. "Bryce," she said with a sigh of relief as she lowered her weapon. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Hey, buddy," Chuck said. "Have you been sitting here in the dark?"

Bryce didn't answer right away. He just stared at them for a long moment. "I came to see Sarah," he finally said.

"Chuck, do you think that you could give us a minute?"

x-x-x-x-x

Devon really didn't know what to do. On the one hand, the last thing that he wanted was to endanger this poor girl who had totally innocently gotten involved in this mess. And there was some wisdom in not letting them know that she wasn't Ellie. Casey hadn't told him all that much. But what he did tell him was chilling. He knew there was this organization called Fulcrum that was after Chuck. He had also told him all about how ruthless they could be and how they would stop at nothing to get him.

Ellie had been assuming that it was the CIA that was following them. But what if it was Fulcrum that now had them captured? Who knew what they would do to Misty if they discovered their mistake?

On the other hand, he didn't want to do anything to send the wrong message to Misty. She seemed like a nice enough kid, and she was incredibly attractive. But there was one thing for sure. He was never, ever going to do anything to betray Ellie. And the way she had been looking at him in the car… and especially the way she was currently snuggled into his side said that she was clearly looking for more than just a little excitement.

This was going to be very complicated.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck turned to leave. "I'll be next door," he said. But before he could take a step, he felt Sarah firmly grab his wrist.

"Chuck is not going anywhere," Sarah said. "There are no secrets between us. Chuck knows everything. Anything you have to say to me, you can say to both of us."

Bryce shrugged his shoulders. "As you wish," he said. "I was hoping to spare him an uncomfortable moment. But I guess he's going to find out sooner or later anyway. I just wanted to let you know that I've decided that I'm not giving up. I'm ready to fight."

Sarah was confused. "Okay, Bryce," she said. "That's good. It's no surprise. I don't think that any of us are ready to give up. Why do you think you had to tell me that?"

On the other hand, Chuck knew instantly what Bryce meant, probably because he always suspected that it was true. So he stepped between them. "I'm ready to fight too," he said.

Bryce stepped to the door. "Fair enough," he said as he opened the door. "I thought you were my friend. And here you stab me in the back and steal my girl. Well, you're not getting away with this. I love her. Be sure of one thing."

"I'm going to get her back."

x-x-x-x-x


	13. Doctors and Best Friends

_Okay guys. Who seriously thinks that Bryce stands a shot in hell at this point? If you do, then Sarah is just as angry in this chapter at you as she is at Chuck. Except you're not going to get the make up sex that he is, lol._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Doctors and Best Friends**

x-x-x-x-x

At least Dad was good for one thing. He had assured her thatDevonwasn't in any imminent danger tonight before she left. So she could at least take a breath. That left dealing with her immediate situation. One of the first things that Ellie desperately wanted to do was shower and get out of that ridiculous cocktail waitress outfit she was currently poured into. That would also have the extra added benefit of not being in a position of having to talk to John. Hopefully he understood enough to realize that all that talk about underwear earlier was hyperbole for her dad's benefit. She had no intention of actually showing him her bikini briefs tonight… or any other night when it really came right down to it. If he mistakenly thought that he was going to get to see them, this was going to be an incredibly long night.

Fortunately, he showed no sign of thinking anything like that. If anything he looked more grateful that she was retreating to the privacy of the bathroom than she was. The long hot shower felt heavenly. In fact she stayed in the soothing hot spray so long that she was beginning to look like a lobster. When she finally got out and dried her hair she looked in her bag sadly. It only confirmed what she already knew. She certainly regretted only packing one change of clothes but Sarah had told her to only pack an emergency bag.

She definitely hadn't anticipated losing one whole outfit to another woman. Then again, she hadn't anticipated losing her fiancé to another woman either. It had been a hell of a day on many levels. There was one thing for sure. She wasn't ever climbing back into that Slutty Ellie outfit… unless perhaps it was to tease Devon as a welcome home present. And even then she wasn't going to be wearing it for very long. But that meant the only thing she had to put on was the fairly dressy white blouse and navy skirt outfit that she had bought with Sarah that time to go to the club in Cancun. What did Sarah jokingly call it when they were paying for them? Oh yeah, the standard agent seduction uniform.

Hopefully, she wouldn't be seducing anyone tonight. The day had already been strange enough. Finally, she knew that she had hid in the bathroom as long as she could reasonably get away with without being obvious that she was avoiding him. When she finally stepped out, Casey was sitting watching television. She knew instantly by his eyes that he recognized the outfit she was wearing… and it's significance. Damn, that was awkward. And if his eyes hadn't given it away, the red that was half way up his face confirmed what he was clearly thinking.

"This is the only outfit I packed," she quickly said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Ellie realized how defensive and just plain stupid she sounded. That just made it worse. She could now quickly feel the blush climbing up her own neck.

Fortunately, Casey let her off the hook. "It looks nice," he said, and immediately turned his attention back to the television.

Ellie breathed a huge sigh of relief. And actually Casey's stock climbed about a hundred points in her mind. "What are you watching?" she asked. Not that it mattered. It was clearly a baseball game of some kind. Ellie wasn't really a big baseball fan under normal circumstances. But tonight, she was going to pull up a chair and glue her eyes to that screen as if the cure for cancer was encoded somewhere in the box score.

Ellie hadn't been sitting there for about two minutes when there was a loud pounding on the door. Casey may have looked like he was relaxing watching a baseball game. But it only took about a second before he was at the door with his gun in hand.

"Walker," he said in relief as he opened the door. "What's up?"

When she stepped into the room, with Chuck in tow behind her, she was wearing pretty much the same exact outfit as Ellie. Hopefully she wasn't planning on any seductions tonight either. "It's been a long day," she said. "Let's get out of here, get something to eat, and maybe have a drink or two."

Ellie had only been sitting alone with John for about two minutes. But those two minutes were already awkward enough that getting out of that room sounded like a very good idea. In fact, it was such a good idea to Ellie that she jumped at it. But then her stupid doctor instincts kicked in. "Sarah," she said cautiously. "You were unconscious earlier today. You took a Vicodin just a few hours ago. You really shouldn't be drinking."

Sarah just grinned. "You'd better decide right now," she said. "Who are you going to be tonight, my doctor, or my best friend? As much as I appreciate the concern, there isn't room enough for both of you in the van. And I could really use my best friend tonight. Maybe she can keep me from killing my incredibly cute fiancé here."

Ellie could tell from the expression on her face that she was just kidding… mostly. "What's wrong?' she asked. "Trouble in paradise? He didn't put the toilet seat back down again? I'm afraid that's hopeless."

"No," Sarah said with a fake pout. "He's acting all jealous again."

"I am not acting jealous," Chuck protested. "Her ex shows up in our room and tells her that he loves her and that he's going to fight to win her back, right in front of me. I'd say it's pretty normal to show some concern."

"Okay, fine," Sarah said with probably more edge than she intended. "You think that you're acting reasonably? Let's wait until we're having a drink, tell them the whole story, and let them decide who's right."

"Do I really have to go?" Casey moaned. "I'm watching a ballgame here. Besides, I don't have to hear the whole story. I'm with Chuck on this one. Which ex was it? Larkin? Barker? Someone else?"

"You are siding with Chuck?" Sarah asked incredulously. "That's a first. Besides, Cole is not my ex. I wish you'd stop saying that. Actually neither is Bryce for that matter. But it was him."

"Who else could I side with?" Casey asked with his eyes sparkling. "Bartowski here is a smart guy. He has to know that there is no way in the world for him to compete with guys like Cole Barker and Bryce Larkin. What do you expect from the poor guy?"

Sarah could only shake her head at his jab. Even though he was clearly joking, it was the very last thing that she wanted Chuck to have to hear tonight. He was down enough as it was. "Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically. "Do the words 'you're not helping' mean anything to you? Actually, I really wish you could stay here. But I lost my gun in the fight today. We need someone armed in case there is any trouble."

"Here," Casey said as he handed Sarah a gun. "It's my backup. Does this mean I can stay?"

Sarah took the gun from Casey, ejected the clip, and inspected it critically. Say what you want about Casey's complete lack of basic social skills, the man sure knew his hardware. And Sarah was definitely feeling a little naked without her gun. So she spent a long moment admiring this one. Finally satisfied that all was well, she placed it in her normal spot. "Fine," she said. "Stay here and starve for all I care."

Ellie thought about the situation. If Bryce had really said that about getting Sarah back, that would be a huge deal to Chuck. They would need to talk about it. But maybe they could keep the mood light. So finally she stepped in. "Come on, John," she said as she playfully looped her arm through his. She looked very carefully for the blush that she was sure was going to quickly spread up his face. Sure enough, there it was. That would pay him back a little for the cheap shot he just took at her brother. Maybe she was wrong earlier. It might be fun if he thought she was flirting with him… a little anyway. If he thought there was a chance that she might actually try and show him those bikini briefs later… well, that might just intimidate him enough to shut him up. And it might just entertain Chuck and Sarah enough to keep this thing with Bryce from turning into a serious fight. So she shot them a quick wink. "Don't make me be a third wheel tonight. Besides, you don't want to sit here all alone do you?"

"Come buy me a drink."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah took a sip of her beer and looked around the table. She knew that she wasn't really being very fair. Ellie would take her side on almost anything, even if she didn't think she was right. She had clearly manipulated the situation for that very reason. But in this case she didn't have to worry about that. She was completely right for once.

Okay, yes. Bryce shouldn't have said what he said. It was way across the line. It was blatantly stupid. What was he even thinking? Even if they ever did have the relationship he was describing, and they clearly never did, it was long over. And he should especially have never said it in front of Chuck. It was more than stupid. It was childish and mean spirited. Sarah had every intention of letting him know, in incredibly clear terms, that nothing like that was ever going to happen again. Grow up already.

At least Sarah was pretty much over being mad. But she had to admit, she saw red there for a long moment. She could understand Chuck being angry at Bryce. But fear? Doubt? Weren't they so far past that? That's why she dragged everybody out tonight. This situation was bad enough without her infamous temper making it worse by yelling some things at him that she really didn't mean.

It wasn't a very nice place that Casey picked, and that was understatement. But it was also a pretty safe place to not be noticed by the people they didn't want to notice them. It was one of those red neck beer places that also had a small kitchen. It was the kind of place that Sarah would never have gone in alone and even then without a weapon of some sort, the kind of place where a fight was so normal as to be ignored. Ellie's eyes got noticeably big when she looked around. It was clearly not a place that Dr. Eleanor Bartowski would normally frequent either.

Sarah could feel every man's eyes in the place checking her out. Of course that could also be said of better places. Normally this wasn't a place that she would want to be with Chuck. Some good old boy wanting to fight him to get her to dance would only start a brawl. But tonight a brawl didn't sound all that bad, especially with Casey here.

It took a grand total of about ten seconds to become apparent that they were plainly over dressed for the joint. It took about that same ten seconds to realize that they also clearly had more collective teeth than the current customer average. But the burgers and fries were surprisingly good. Even Ellie admitted that. Maybe they were all just really hungry. But the beer was also cold. So all in all, it wasn't that bad.

Ellie was being pretty cute trying to spare Chuck's feelings. But come on, Ellie. Why fight this? Do your job. Tell Chuck how silly and just plain insulting he was being. After all he was just being stubborn. But Sarah knew once Ellie told him how stupid he was being, he would quickly see reason. She knew her guy pretty well. He'd feel bad almost immediately and apologize.

Sarah suddenly realized that she was more pissed at him than she realized. She was actually in a mood to want to drive home how stupid he was being. So much so that she was planning on maybe letting him sweat it out a little for a few minutes. But who was she kidding? She couldn't stay mad at him for long when he flashed those puppy dog eyes at her. She would eventually forgive him and then take him home for some serious rock-the-windows make up sex.

And maybe it wasn't her proudest moment, but since he would be feeling guilty anyway what was wrong with parlaying that into getting him to officially apologize by treating her to a few of his porn magazine moves that she liked so much? Maybe she could even milk that guilt into a long back rub between sessions while she caught her breath. It was a win-win. He would get to work though his guilt and she would lie there all night and… well… let him earn his redemption. She was so wrapped up in her little daydream that she was beginning to get a little impatient.

But every time Sarah would start to bring it up, Ellie would subtly change the subject. Finally, she had had enough with the hinting. So she dragged her into the ladies room. It was time to end this. "Come on, Ellie," she said. "I need your help here. Are you going to tell Chuck how stupid and insulting he's being or not?"

Sarah could tell by the pained expression on Ellie's face that this wasn't going to go well for her. "I'm sorry, sweetie," Ellie said. "I would love to back you up here. You know that I would. I didn't want to say this in front of him, but I am actually with Chuck on this one."

Sarah was floored, to put it mildly. How could this be? Maybe Ellie didn't understand what had really happened. "You think that Chuck should be afraid of me leaving him for Bryce Larkin?" she asked incredulously.

Ellie smiled and gently rubbed her arm. "Of course not, sweetie," she said soothingly. "Chuck isn't afraid of that, not really. But can you really blame him for being bothered by it?"

Sarah nodded. "He should know," she said numbly. "I've told him as plainly as I can over and over again how I feel. We're supposed to be past this."

"Okay, yes," Ellie said. "He does know… with his head. But that's not what we're talking about here. Put yourself in his shoes for a second. He looks at you, and then he looks at himself. He knows that he's not the type of man that a beautiful super agent should be with. So he hears a man who is exactly that type tell him that he is going to take you away from him. And that scares him a little. No one should have to listen to their fiancée's ex tell him that they are going to get her back, especially given his history with this particular man."

Now Sarah was feeling a little south of horrible… and still stunned. "What should I do?" she asked. "I'm not trying to hurt him."

Ellie put her arm around her. "Of course you're not trying to hurt him," she said. "Nobody thinks that. It's just that loving someone and being with them means helping them through the things that they struggle with. I'm sure there are some things that Chuck has had to accept about you, like maybe things about your past, right?"

Sarah nodded as she suddenly found herself blinking away tears.

"Well, there are some things that you're going to have to accept about Chuck," she said. "First, he is never, ever going to see people he loves be in danger and stay where it's safe without trying to help. I know that drives you a little crazy but it's just a fact. You're going to have to get over it… or be willing to have a ton of fights about it. And you're going to have to realize that he feels inferior to Bryce Larkin. He just does. You and I can tell him with words that he shouldn't until we're blue in the face. He'll nod and agree with us but in his heart he will still feel the same way. It might be silly but you're going to need to prove to him that you don't think he's inferior. Sarah, I know that you didn't see it this way, but you didn't do that tonight. You should never have allowed that jerk to get away with saying what he said. You should have said something to him to correct him. That's what Chuck needed from you. You should have stuck up for him. Not doing that reinforced his fear."

Sarah was starting to lose her battle with blinking back the tears. So Ellie wrapped her other arm around her and squeezed her tight. "Sweetie," she said. "I've never seen anybody in my life as lovesick as you are. You would do anything for Chuck. Nobody questions that. When he's physically in danger, I've seen you turn into a total bad ass to protect him. What he needs is that same bad ass when he's emotionally in danger."

Sarah didn't want to lose her composure so she just nodded.

"Sweetie, stop feeling bad," Ellie said. "This is such a minor thing. In the grand scheme of things, it's laughable. Chuck absolutely knows that you would never leave him. He knows that you have his back. You just need to make him feel it. You're going to go out there and fix this. It might take you two minutes."

"How?"

"You're kidding, right?" Ellie asked with a laugh. "You of all people? I hate to be the one to break this to you, sweetie, but the CIA didn't invent the idea of a woman rubbing up against her man, telling him that she loves him, and later taking him to bed doing the unspeakable things she knows he likes until he forgets his own name. Real women have been using that technique for about ten million years. It was well before the CIA was even created. All the CIA did was put it in a manual and add lipstick."

Sarah couldn't keep in the laugh.

Ellie broke the embrace and looked Sarah in the eyes. "You know that I'm on your side?" she asked softly. "Right? I'm more than happy to be your bad cop with Chuck on almost anything. This wasn't me taking Chuck's side over you. This was me trying my best to help my best friend through something."

"I know," Sarah sighed. "I just have so much to learn about being a real girl."

"Hey," Ellie said. "You've never had to do this before. You've been with Chuck for about a month. Ten million years worth of history to learn… I'd say you're doing really well."

x-x-x-x-x

The first thing that Sarah realized when she stepped out of the bathroom was that someone was sitting in her seat. That couldn't possibly be a good thing. Once she got a few steps closer, she realized it was Carina… and pure panic set in. This couldn't possibly be coincidence. Carina would never come into a place like this on her own. Who else knew they were here? Sarah quickly pushed Ellie in back of her, reached for her gun, and scanned the room for possible threats.

Carina was clearly enjoying herself. She had her hand on Casey's arm in a fairly comfortable manner and they were both laughing about something. There were two things that were good about that. Casey being so calm was a hopeful sign that they weren't going to have to shoot it out with the place surrounded by agents… and she didn't have her hand on Chuck's arm. She didn't seem to be paying attention to Chuck at all. Hopefully she had learned her lesson on that one. Chuck had a slightly bemused smile on his face as he watched them overtly flirting with each other.

But Casey clearly wasn't Carina's primary objective for being there. Indeed, as soon as she could pry her attention away from Casey enough to see her approaching, she got up and came to meet her. She could obviously read the concern on Sarah's face because she addressed it right away. "Don't worry," she said. "No one knows that you're here." Then she turned to Ellie with her warmest smile and stuck out her hand. "You must be Chuck's sister," she said. "My name is Carina Miller. Dr. Bartowski, I just want to tell you how much of an honor it is to finally meet you. Your work in Mexico was nothing short of amazing. I can't tell you how frantic everyone in the agency was over the situation. When you work with agents for a long time, you become very attached to them. Thank you for helping to save their lives. Some day if you're willing, I'd like to hear the details."

To say that Ellie was surprised didn't come close to it. The stories that Sarah had told her about Carina painted a picture of… well someone who was pretty wild. And here was this nice, attractive, well mannered, and fairly conservative looking woman standing there warmly shaking her hand. "It's nice to finally get to meet you too," she said. "Please call me Ellie. I have to tell you, Carina, you're nothing like I expected from Sarah's stories. You're not… umm… you're not…"

"Nude?" Carina finished her statement with a grin. "Our Sarah here can exaggerate a little sometimes."

"Or, how about this?" Sarah interrupted with her own grin. "Our Sarah here doesn't exaggerate at all, and Ellie just hasn't seen her yet after she's tipped back a couple of shots of tequila. Why don't you tell me why you're here?"

"Bryce called me," Carina said, clearly enjoying the devastated look her news had just wrought on Sarah's face. "He asked me to come in and get you. He is waiting in the car to talk to you… and I'd say maybe he's also planning on using some non-verbal communication. Sarah, are you getting back together with him? He says you're going to be spending the night with him."

Sarah's shoulders noticeably sagged. That meant Bryce's words earlier were more than just childish bravado. He had obviously followed them here. Ellie was right. She should have corrected him. Now the dumb ass clearly thought he had some kind of shot. Her disgust quickly turned to rage. "Sonofabitch," she muttered, far more to herself than Carina or Ellie. "No, I'm definitely not getting back together with Bryce… unless that's some new slang term for breaking his face. That could very well happen. For one thing, getting back together would assume I was ever with him in the first place. You go out and tell that arrogant jerk that he has a serious misconception and that not only am I never getting back together with him, I have no interest in even speaking to him again until he apologizes to my fiancé."

Carina's eyes sparkled with the news. "Gladly," she said. "That's what I figured. The boy never did suffer from a lack of self confidence." But as she turned to leave she felt Ellie grab her wrist.

"Tell me something, Carina," Ellie said. "I hope I'm not getting too personal here. I saw you talking to John. I only saw a second. But from across the room it looked like it was going quite well. Is there some possible romance blossoming there?"

There was something in Ellie's eyes that told Carina she had something more in mind, so her face broke into a huge grin. "You're not getting too personal at all," she said. "Casey and I are old friends. I hope that I'm not stepping on your territory."

"Heavens no," Ellie said with a laugh. "John's a good sort, a little uptight maybe. We're just friends. He needs to meet a nice girl. I'm sort of rooting for him. I kind of like to play cupid sometimes."

"Good," Carina said. "I've never been called a nice girl before but in that case, maybe I can answer your question. It's a long story but Casey sort of owes me a good time. Is there some romance involved? I'm not sure if you'd call it romance… or if it does anything at all for your cupid complex but I'm seriously considering taking him home tonight and screwing his brains out. I'm just not totally sure yet if it's going to work out. I might get stuck with Bryce. Watching him take a fall is also one of my favorite things. It always puts me in a good mood. Can I wait and let you know after I get back? And maybe after I've had those shots of tequila that Sarah just promised me?"

If Ellie was at all shocked by Carina's frankness, she showed no sign of it. On the contrary, her smile was quite relaxed. "Well, in that case, I have somewhat of a favor to ask," she said. "Maybe you could go back to the table and relax with him, have those shots of tequila on me, and answer your internal questions. And while you're busy doing that maybe I could possibly be the one to deliver Sarah's message to Bryce Larkin. If it helps Casey's case at all, or for that matter my silly cupid complex, I'll promise to entertain you with every single detail of his fall. Trust me, it will be quite hard. It's been a long day. Besides…"

"I've been looking forward to talking to that man for a long time."

x-x-x-x-x


	14. Dads and Sisters

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Dads and Sisters**

x-x-x-x-x

There was no way that Sarah was going to allow Ellie to walk alone out into that parking lot even if they weren't on the run. Not in this neighborhood. And Carina was also clearly anxious to spend some serious flirting time alone with Casey. So she grabbed Chuck by the hand, pulled him out of his chair, and led them both to the door. Sarah could see Bryce's car in the parking lot. And his profile was also obvious as he sat there, even in the dark. "There he is," Sarah said. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"Are you kidding?" Ellie asked as she opened the door. "I would give a month's pay to get to tell that jerk where to go."

As soon as Ellie left, Sarah turned to Chuck and put her arms around his neck. The fact that they were clearly visible from the parking lot and Bryce was almost certainly watching their every move was only a small factor in why she was rubbing her chest very conspicuously against his. Although she did have to admit, she had turned them to make sure Bryce got the best possible view so as to make no possible misinterpretation of her actions. "I'm very, very sorry," she whispered. "I was very insensitive tonight."

Chuck just looked at her. Obviously he wasn't ready to forgive her just yet. But he was also making no move to get out of range of her chest. Maybe he was taking a page out of her playbook and making her sweat for a minute or two. Fair enough. She was willing to do a little groveling… and oh so much more to earn his forgiveness.

"I understand that this is not an excuse," Sarah continued. "But sometimes I don't think you realize how strongly I feel about you. You and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together. Do you honestly not know that? The main unanswered question between us is when and how many kids we're going to have. It frustrates me a little that anything Bryce Larkin could say would make you question any of that for even a second. I was hoping that we were long past that. That's why I got mad. But I wasn't thinking about you and where you're coming from. So I'm truly very, very sorry. I'm going to keep telling you this until it finally sinks in. I love you. If you only knew how silly your worrying is about Bryce you'd honesty feel foolish. You never would worry about it again. For some reason that I don't totally understand, I can't seem to get you to believe that. I'll keep trying."

Chuck didn't exactly smile, but his eyes got a lot softer. "I don't question that," he said softly. "I do believe it. You're right. I even feel a little foolish. But explain something to me. Bryce clearly thought he had a shot. Why do you think that is? He's out there right now waiting for you. He obviously still thinks he's going to drive off with you and that you'll spend tonight in his bed. After all, you had a chance and didn't correct him. Be honest. If Jill showed up and said that she was going to get me back… and I didn't correct her…"

Sarah's face fell. And Ellie's words stabbed her heart. Because what Chuck just hadn't said was much louder than what he had. Suddenly she understood his fear. Yes, it would bother her if Jill had said something like that. And if Chuck hadn't stood up for her, she'd be a basket case. She had not only stood there silently and let him feel those dark fears. She got mad at him for them. She couldn't blink away all of the tears that were quickly forming. But she wasn't going to be that girl, the one who cried to get cheap forgiveness. So she took a deep breath. "I know," she said sadly. "You're absolutely right. I should have corrected him. I feel horrible about that. I guess it didn't register that I would have to say anything to him. It all happened so fast and what he was saying was laughable to me. Trust me, I'll set the record incredibly straight to him in no uncertain terms the very next time I see him."

"Okay," Chuck said. "That would help."

"Chuck," she said as she tried to keep her composure. "I let you down tonight. I hate to admit that. I didn't mean to. But the fact is… I did."

He didn't say anything. But he said everything. He recognized that she was hurting, put his arms around her and pulled her close.

That's when Sarah realized that this particular argument was rapidly nearing it's end. But she also didn't want it to end with him knowing that she wasn't just trying to make up with him. She also understood that something had to change. "I learned a valuable lesson tonight," she said as she snuggled into place. "Let's face it. Bryce isn't the most mature person around. He thinks you beat him at something… and he can't stand that thought. He said that he loves me. That was laughable. He doesn't love me, not even close. He never did. This isn't what this is about at all. Bryce is being a baby. He just doesn't like to lose. I always figured you would know that about him. I shouldn't have assumed that. But whatever I assumed, I should have been looking out for you more. I've been good at protecting you physically. I need to get better at protecting you emotionally, at proving to you every day that I have your back… and that I always will. I understand that I dropped that ball today. It's a mistake I never plan on making again. I would really appreciate being forgiven."

That got a little bit of a smile. "Something tells me that you've been talking to Ellie," he said.

"I have," Sarah sighed. "Someday maybe I can do this without her. But I'm so horrible at it. Don't worry. She gave me a severe tongue lashing and a trip to the woodshed. She wrote you a prescription that I have to fill. I have to rub up against you, tell you how much I love you, and take you home and do whatever unspeakable things you can think of until you can't remember your own name."

That finally got the smile she was so desperately looking for. "That's some pretty strong medicine," he said. "That Ellie is a lot tougher on you, huh? She always just kicked me in the shins. But she is pretty smart. Did you know that she's a doctor?" Then he got serious. "You know that you don't have to do any of that to prove anything to me," he said softly. "I'm just so grateful to have you. If it seems like anything else, then I'm an idiot. I'm still not sure why someone as awesome as you would be with someone like me."

Sarah was trying to keep the mood light. But the fact of the matter was he didn't get it… at all. "Wow," she said with a bit of her own smile. "You must really be pissed at me. You're not even going to let me work off my guilt? That's just mean. For what it's worth, it's exactly the opposite. I'm very grateful to have you. I'm not sure why someone as awesome as you would be with someone like me. And yes, I fully understand that you're not requiring me to do anything tonight to prove to you that I love you. I know that you would love me just as much anyway. I need you to understand something. I messed up tonight. I let you hurt. I don't think that you understand how horrible I feel about that. I need to make it up to you… for my own benefit. I really need you to let me. It's either that or I'm going to break down right here and start bawling. And I do think that you know how much I would hate that. So do us both a favor. Relax, put yourself in a wild place, and let me take care of you tonight. If it makes you feel any better, I promise I'll get just as wild letting you work off your guilt the next time you mess up. In fact, I pretty much already know how that's going to go. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It sure didn't hurt anything," Chuck said with his smile growing. "Please don't cry. We both would hate that. So, give me an idea. How much guilt does my little blonde genie have to work off tonight anyway?"

Sarah sighed in relief as she recognized Chuck's teasing tone that very plainly said this particular argument was now officially history. "Let's put it this way," she said with her own teasing tone. "Chuck, I always hate it when you're mad at me. I hate it even more when you have a good reason. So your little blonde genie is going to be on the clock all night. I don't think there is much chance of you getting through tonight still knowing your own name."

Chuck just grinned.

"But let's get one other thing straight," Sarah said. "Yes, I'll gladly be your genie tonight. But there is a whole other side to this wives-use-sex-to-control-their-husbands deal. I know that you told him that you'd fight for me. I understand what you were trying to say and I'll admit I appreciate the sentiment. I think it was very sweet. But you also need to understand something. You are never, ever to actually get in a fight with Bryce. That would just be stupid. It would be you being even more foolish than he is being. I'm not a prize to be fought over. You and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together because we both want to. You have absolutely no reason to ever fight him. It wouldn't go well… and I love you too much to see that happen. So that's where I'm putting my foot down. We get in too many fights as it is. If it ever happens, you're going to see your nice sweet blonde genie turn into one very pissed off blonde fire breathing demon. And the irony here is while I might be breathing fire, I can promise you one very cold side of the bed for a very, very, very long time. No amount of your pleading is going to get the demon to go away until she's completely convinced that you are one whipped puppy. We're both going to be miserable for days and days. Chuck, I'm not kidding one bit. Please don't ever make me prove that to you. Agreed?"

Chuck sighed. "Agreed," he finally said.

"Good," Sarah said with a fake pout. "So can I please be forgiven now?"

Chuck reached down and kissed her. "Absolutely," he said. "Do you want to go back to the table and have another drink?"

"In a minute," Sarah said with a grin. "I'm not really sure what Carina has in mind tonight, but I'm also pretty sure that we don't want to see any of it. I think that they deserve some time alone don't you? Besides, I sort of like the idea of standing here in the doorway where Bryce can see us from his car and necking for a while. Maybe it will help Ellie make her point. Consider it a down payment on the unspeakable things you have coming."

"This is a pretty public place to be necking," Chuck said with a bit of a pained expression as he looked around at the people gawking at them. He could clearly see the mixture of disbelief in the men's eyes… and also the envy. "One thing is for sure. You've made me the hero of a whole roomful of confused rednecks. If you keep rubbing up against me like that, Bryce is going to get to see us make a quick trip out to the van."

"Don't tease me," Sarah sighed as she reached up to kiss him again. "If it was just Bryce, we'd be on our way out there right now. But the windows in the van aren't all that tinted. They would get a pretty good show."

"So?" Chuck teased with a grin. "I would go from being a redneck hero… to being a redneck god. What's wrong with that?"

Sarah laughed. "As much as I want to help you look good to the locals," she said. "I'm fairly sure that Ellie is not up for seeing that and I'm already in enough trouble with her tonight as it is."

"I guess that anytime, anyplace stuff was just talk," he sighed.

Sarah considered that for a moment. "You're right," she said as she broke their embrace and grabbed his hand. "Let's go. It's your white butt that everybody is going to be seeing anyway. You have to explain it to Ellie."

Chuck's eyes widened in horror. "I was just teasing," he quickly said.

"I know," Sarah said with a grin. "Let that be a lesson. Don't ask me for things that you don't want."

Chuck sighed. "Fair enough," he said. "What do you think that Ellie is going to tell him?"

Sarah actually considered the question for a moment. "That's a good question," she said. "I'm not really sure what she's going to tell him…"

"But I'll bet it's substantially worse than getting kicked in the shins."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was enjoying her role in this little play way more than her conscience was completely comfortable with. One thing she hadn't anticipated was how good looking this Bryce Larkin guy really was. Oh, she wasn't flustered by him or anything. On the contrary, she was getting fairly used to being around good looking men. After all, she was engaged to Devon. If the brilliant heart surgeon thing hadn't worked out he could easily have been a model. He was as good looking as anybody… in the chiseled, Greek God sort of way. Then there was Cole. Of course he was completely different. Cole was good looking in the scruffy, smooth-talking-bad-boy, dangerous way that had you wanting him to slide his hand inside your blouse ten minutes after the first time you met him.

Bryce was good looking in an entirely different way. He was more pretty. And that wasn't the only difference. It was more attitude. Devon, God love him, didn't even realize that he was gorgeous. He honestly never realized why all the women at the hospital constantly buzzed around him like fruit flies around an over-ripe banana. For the first year or so it had bothered Ellie quite a bit. After all it was so very clear. Devoncould have a different woman naked in a supply closet every single day of the week if he wanted it. But finally she let it go. He really had no clue… and he would never look at another woman. In fact his naivety only made him more irresistible.

Cole was exactly the opposite. Cole wasn't really technically all that good looking. The honest truth was thatDevonwas much better looking than Cole. Cole simply oozed a sexy confidence, but he did it in an understated sort of way. It honestly sort of snuck up on you. It was like you couldn't quite figure out what your attraction was… until suddenly you found yourself half naked and wanting to rip his clothes off. Bryce was totally different. You could tell from a mile away that Bryce Larkin knew he was good looking. He also knew that you knew… and he had every intention of using it against you.

Ellie could feel the dislike quickly building inside her before she even opened the car door. But in order for this to be effective, he couldn't see that. So she forced the soft smile on her face that she usually reserved for department heads and plopped into the car. "Hi," she said as she stuck out her hand in greeting. "You must be Bryce. I'm Ellie."

If Bryce was surprised by seeing her… or upset that he was being treated to the stunning sight of Sarah making up with Chuck using all of her feminine wiles, he certainly didn't show it. Certainly he recognized the spy seduction uniform. If that's what he was thinking, the thought certainly didn't look horrible. His smile was relaxed and quite frankly, disarming. "I know who you are, Dr. Bartowski," he said as he took her hand and more held it than shook it. "You're Chuck's sister."

"It's very nice to finally get to meet you."

x-x-x-x-x

It was absolutely surreal. That actually didn't even come close to describing it. Sure, Chuck had heard all about the story of Sarah helping Casey get his revenge on Carina. He had even been there when Casey was found cuffed to his bed in the first place. But those events really didn't register in his mind. With the possible exception of Ilsa, he always pictured Casey as not all that interested in women. If anything, he blushed at the very thought of a woman showing the least amount of interest. Ellie of all people had clearly picked up on that herself and was just as clearly enjoying playing on that discomfort. She was obviously seeing how red she could make his face not twenty minutes ago.

Chuck had to admit. He was rooting hard for Casey tonight. If there was anything he could have done to help, he would have done it. But Casey actually looked to have things well in hand. It was probably best to keep his mouth shut and let them work it out. Oh, Chuck instinctively knew that this was not romance in any way that he would ever describe it. He wasn't so naïve to think there was any long term potential here. This was two spies seizing the moment. And Carina was more than a handful. Hopefully Casey knew what he was doing here. Ending up cuffed to his bed tonight still seemed like a distinct possibility.

But why was Casey acting so… well, un-Casey-like? He was now so focused on Carina's every word that he seemed oblivious to anything else. Under normal circumstances, Sarah and he showing any affection in front of him would have elicited a groan at minimum, and usually a much more direct snarky comment. But now Sarah was virtually sitting on his lap kissing his neck… and nothing. Casey didn't even glance their way.

Actually that was probably a good thing. Sarah was clearly in a very good mood herself after their make up. And her hand that had been resting on his leg for some time was starting to drift a little north. Fortunately, it was pretty much out of sight under the table. But the silly look on her face was plainly telling him to expect her hand's slow northward journey to continue and that she had a definite destination in mind… like maybe the North Pole. Chuck couldn't help but grin at his double entendre. Fortunately, before she reached the frozen tundra, Ellie picked that moment to rejoin them. She plopped down at the table with a sigh.

She was clearly not that happy. Everyone could see that. But it was Carina who was the first to actually ask… in classic Carina manner. "Wow, Ellie," she said with a grin. "What happened? He wouldn't make out with you? That doesn't sound like Bryce. You still have your bra on. So…"

That got a bit of a smile. "No, I'm pretty sure he would have," Ellie interrupted. "He's pretty… umm, confident, isn't he?"

Sarah's face showed her concern. "So what happened?" she asked. "You don't look all that happy."

Ellie sighed. "No, I guess not," she said. "I really let him have it… with both barrels. I told him how much in love you two were, that I had never seen anything like it. I told him that he was acting like an immature jerk. I told him how pissed you both were. I even told him that he was risking the friendship of both of you."

"And…" Sarah asked expectantly.

"He didn't believe me," Ellie said with a sigh. "Actually, he wouldn't listen to a word I said. He still thinks you're going to get back with him. He told me that you doth protest too much. He just thinks you're making him sweat a little. You'll come around."

That sent Sarah's chair flying. "Sonofabitch," she said as she stood up. "I'm going to put an end to this crap once and for all."

"He's gone," Ellie said. "He left. He said that he would give you some time to cool off."

Sarah looked anxiously to where Chuck was still sitting. "I'm so sorry," she said.

But to her overwhelming relief, his smile was relaxed and genuine. "Relax," he said. "I'm fine. This isn't your fault."

"Are you sure?" Sarah insisted.

The smile quickly turned into a grin. "I'm sure," he said. "Now I'm actually sort of looking forward to seeing you explain this situation to him. Is that wrong of me?"

"If you're selling tickets, I'll take one," Casey said. "I don't really care if it's wrong." Then he turned back to Carina. "What do you say?"

"He'll take two tickets," Carina said quickly. "I'm pretty sure that I'm not missing this."

That got them all laughing. As soon as Sarah sat back down, Ellie turned to Carina. "So," she said. "It's looking like my cupid complex is going to get a much needed shot in the arm. Is it official? Do I have to find another place to sleep tonight?"

Carina had to wait to answer until she could control her laughing. "That's totally up to you," she said. "After all the stories Sarah has told you about me, maybe you want to see the truth for yourself. I want to warn you. It might be life changing."

Ellie knew full well that Carina was teasing her… but she still couldn't keep the red out of her face. "That's okay," she finally said.

"I'll take Sarah's word for it."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Ellie stood outside of Steven's room in the dark. Ellie had her bag in her hand. Casey had left the bar with Carina. So they got to the motel a few minutes before the van. Not that Carina was anxious or anything but she spun the wheels pretty aggressively in the parking lot. Chuck was the most sober, so he was elected to drive the van home while the two girls, who were definitely not the most sober, sat in the back and giggled. Fortunately it wasn't that long of a drive because he wasn't all that sober himself. Casey was standing at the door waiting with Ellie's bag as soon as they pulled up. She could see Carina in the room. She wasn't yet nude… but it clearly wasn't going to be long now. Sarah sent Chuck into their room to get ready for their… evening.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Sarah said. "You can always spend the night with us."

"Okay," Ellie said in a sarcastic, clearly teasing tone. "Thanks. That will actually work for me. You get to explain it to Chuck. I'm sure he won't be too disappointed."

"Well," Sarah said with a laugh. "You could always sleep in the van. You'd probably not be the only one sleeping in their car in this neighborhood."

Ellie suddenly got serious. "I don't know what to say to him," she sighed.

"I know," Sarah said as she grabbed her hand. "All I can say is that he really wants a chance to get you know you again. I think that maybe you should not say anything at first. Maybe just listen for a while. That's all he's asking for."

"I'm really jealous," Ellie said.

"Jealous of whom?" Sarah asked.

"You."

"You're jealous of me?" Sarah asked in surprise. "Why, on earth?"

"You have such a natural relationship with him," Ellie said. "Sweetie, I'm not blaming you for anything. But I have to admit, I'm jealous of that. Does that make me ridiculously petty?"

"Of course you're not petty," Sarah said. "It's just easier for me. I don't have the memories of him leaving me when I was a vulnerable teen."

"I guess," Ellie said with a smile. "Nice try. But that didn't really help. I'm still jealous."

"I'm on your side," Sarah said. "You understand that, right? This is not me taking your dad's side over you. It's not that at all. This is me trying to help my best friend, someone who I love very much, through something."

Ellie grinned. "That speech sounds really familiar," she said.

"Hey," Sarah said. "I just want to prove to you that I'm actually listening."

Ellie nodded. "I know," she said. "I love you too."

"You really don't need your dad," Sarah said. "That's obvious. I mean, you've become such a successful, happy, formidable woman all without him. But, don't you want to hear his story?"

"I'm not sure."

"Look at it this way," Sarah said. "You have nothing to lose here. If you don't like what you hear, you can always walk away. Nothing changes. But if you could come to a place where you could forgive him… it would make you feel so much better to have your dad back in your life. You know that."

Ellie put her bag on the sidewalk, wrapped her arms around Sarah, and squeezed for all she was worth. "Thanks, sweetie," she whispered.

"Don't thank me," Sarah said as she squeezed right back. "I'm being selfish."

Ellie just kept holding her tight.

"I've never had a family," Sarah continued. "I'm about to become part of this one. I can't describe how much I'm looking forward to it. I'd like this family to be as big… and happy as possible."

Ellie stepped back from Sarah, picked her bag back up, and knocked on the door. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she smiled. "Speaking of happy," she said. "Aren't you supposed to be next door right now making someone forget his own name? Hello? Unspeakable things?"

"I'm going," Sarah said with her own smile as she started walking towards her room. "I hate to spoil your expectations but I think I'm going to struggle getting Chuck to go anyplace wild at all." But when she got to her door, she stopped and looked. Steven had opened the door and was wordlessly but hopefully looking at his daughter.

"Hello dad," Ellie said.

"Got a minute?"

x-x-x-x-x

_Anybody who reads any of my reviews knows that my most consistent supporter was PassionOverMind. I think she wrote a review for practically every chapter I have ever written. Most times the review would come about the same time I would receive the email notification that the chapter had posted. I always wondered how she could read them so quickly._

_Anyway, her brother just let me know that she was killed in a horrible car accident last week. Please keep her family in your prayers. She was only 19._

_Nik, this chapter is dedicated in your memory. I'll miss hearing from you._

_Nicole "Nik" Howard_

_2/5/1992 - 5/27/2011_

x-x-x-x-x


	15. Trust  and Other Character Flaws

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Trust and Other Character Flaws**

x-x-x-x-x

Devon and Misty really didn't know what to do. Actually, there wasn't much they could do. As soon as the plane landed, they were herded into a van. Their loud protests, demands to see lawyers, and just blame bitching about being drugged were all basically ignored. They were taken to some sort of base and led to a room, actually suite was more like it. It was nice enough, perhaps a little too plainly decorated for Misty's taste. After all, she had grown somewhat accustomed to the loud, almost obnoxious Vegas style of decor. But it was nice and comfortable. Clearly, whoever had captured them was going to treat them well, for now anyway.

They weren't left alone for very long at all before some team of people silently brought them dinner. Misty wasn't really sure if they were guards or waiters. Whatever their pay scale, the food was actually very good, and that's not just because they were both starved. The filet was broiled perfectly. Someone obviously had done enough research to know that it was Ellie's favorite meal. They were just as obviously trying to make her comfortable. Unfortunately for the pretend Ellie, not so much. Misty hadn't eaten red meat since High School so looking at that rare steak Devon was eagerly wolfing down was almost enough to turn her stomach. The twice baked potato was tasty, if not completely filling. But there was plenty of bread. And since Devon was starved, a double dip of filet didn't work out badly at all. Actually Misty did a lot better with Ellie's favorite wine. Of course, Misty had never been all that particular about her wine. Anything with a cork was above her usual standards.

Since there was no way to know if they were being watched and / or listened to, they had to assume they were. That meant staying in character. Not that Misty minded. She was actually having a fair amount of fun pretending to be Ellie Bartowski. Except she was determined to be Ellie the way she should have been… one who was deserving of such a sweet guy.

Okay, so she got the short end of the dinner. But she got the long end of the snuggling. Since Devon was desperate to find something on TV, they were watching the same baseball game that Casey and Ellie had started to watch. In normal times, Misty was somewhat of a fan. And had it been a football game, it might have made a difference, but not tonight. She was far too buzzed from the wine to pay much attention to anything other than daydreaming about what this would be like for real. The kicker was when she casually complained about having a stiff neck from the plane. Naturally that caused the doctor in Devon to kick in and Misty was treated as her sweet 'fiancé' used his medical magic wand fingers to massage it out. This was something that she could get entirely used to.

Naturally, Devon was far less enthusiastic about the snuggling. But what could he do? Whoever might be watching would be expecting two people who were going to be married in six weeks. Of course he could plainly see that there was only one bed.

For her part, Misty had made her decision. Okay, so the reasonable side of her brain told herself how ridiculous she was being. It reminded her that she had known him for a grand total of about ten hours. And usually her reasonable side carried most all arguments… but not tonight. For some reason that she couldn't herself begin to explain, ten hours was more than enough. Misty couldn't pretend to really know what love was… but she was reasonably sure that it was normally supposed to take more than ten hours to happen.

Misty wasn't ever one to believe in stuff like fate. In fact she was usually the one who made fun of the romantic silliness that her friends would always blab on and on about… until now. She was now a convert. Fate was her new best friend, it had brought her this amazing opportunity, and she was going to make the most of it. That Ellie bitch wasn't going to get her hooks into this sweetest man in the world without a fight.

The only problem was how to make this happen. Misty had spent her entire life being underestimated. People just assumed that such a pretty girl couldn't be smart. But she knew that wasn't true. She had an accounting degree. She was on the Dean's List for goodness sake. Maybe it was time to start proving it. So she snuggled into his chest, stared across the room, and took stock of her assets. She had a hunky pretend fiancé with no place to go. There were no pajamas for either of them. Courtesy of being poured into an almost not there cocktail waitress outfit for the past year, she no longer had any sense of modesty about showing her body. There was a definite sense of danger, of being a team against the world that was most exciting. And last but certainly not least, there was only one bed.

Yup, definitely fate.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sighed as she watched the sunlight begin to gradually peek through the curtains. It meant that they would have to get up soon. And she really wanted to just stay there forever. She loved to watch her guy as he slept. It was always her favorite time of the day, mostly because it was so simple. It was the one time when she could allow herself to relax and pretend that they were just another normal couple. Every single day, as soon as they got dressed, who knew what challenges that particular day would bring? He had a damn supercomputer in his brain. And she was desperately trying to protect him from being caught in the life and death struggles between two forces, one only slightly more evil than the other.

But in this small slice of the morning Agent Walker could take a break. They were just Chuck and Sarah. She could just cuddle there with simply the sweetest guy in the world who, for some reason she didn't totally understand, clearly loved her nearly as desperately as she did him. It was the time when she could imagine the life that they could have someday, of the house with the white picket fence, Sunday afternoon cookouts, and pretending to argue over whose turn it was to take the kids to soccer practice. And yes, sometimes at other times of the day those same thoughts were honestly a little intimidating. There were times when she still wasn't sure that she was ready to learn how to be a full time wife and mother. But in the mornings those fears didn't seem to apply. And she had to admit, the fears weren't nearly as strong as just a few weeks ago anyway.

For one thing, he was simply so damn adorable when he slept. Her head just felt so right snuggled in the crook between his shoulder and neck. And who could possibly resist that contented smile that was plastered all over his face? It was far too special a time to waste sleeping.

Besides, she already had all the sleep she needed. The loveable rat had tricked her. He insisted that they start their wild night with a back rub. There was nothing necessarily underhanded about that, except he also insisted that it was her who get the first one. Somehow he had figured out that she couldn't resist that. He knew damn well that she would fall asleep after just a few minutes of him rubbing her back. Sarah simply loved having her back rubbed. It was her main weakness. It always had been… it's just that no man before Chuck had ever taken the time to discover it.

It was actually pretty ironic. All those men had spent so much time and energy trying to sweet talk Agent Walker into their bed, and had all failed so miserably, when there always had been a pretty straight forward path. All it would have taken was a few days' patience and a little tenderness. They were just all so in love with their smooth talking seduction skills that none of them had ever invested the time to try and find it. And certainly, giving her a back rub wouldn't have been a guaranteed way to get Sarah in bed… but it would have sure as hell beat what they were trying. If they had, she would most assuredly not have her current reputation within the spy community for not liking men all that much. Even Bryce, she had been with him for over a year, and he never figured out her weakness. She had been with Chuck for almost a month… enough said.

Actually, Sarah was half kicking herself. She should have seen that one coming. Not that it would have made much difference. He was plainly looking out for her. It was so overt a demonstration of how he really felt about her that she was having a hard time keeping from bawling right there.

He must have sensed as much, because it wasn't very long before she noticed that his eyes were open. "Hey, beautiful," he said sleepily. "What's wrong?"

Sarah quickly blinked back the tears that had been forming. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of him, even if it was of the happy variety. It would just embarrass him. "Nothing," she said sarcastically. "I guess I'm just still overwhelmed by our wild night of passion. What part of working off my guilt didn't you understand anyway?"

"Get over it," Chuck said with his classic grin. "You had nothing to feel guilty about in the first place. You had a pretty full day yesterday. Remember getting knocked unconscious? What about the ten stitches in your arm? And what about the whole week before that when you were running across the country looking for me? Even bad ass super spies need some down time. You needed a little honest sleep. You're always taking care of me all the time. What's wrong with me taking care of you for one night? In case I forgot to say this last night, and I think that I did, I love you too."

"But last night was supposed to be your time," she weakly protested. "I was going to be your genie? I thought that we had a deal?" Okay, so that was manipulative… and she knew it. She just wanted to hear him say it again.

"Who said it wasn't my time?" Chuck asked. "Trust me. I got everything that I wanted out of last night. It was actually one of the very best nights of my life. I got to take care of the person that I love. I got to lie next to the most beautiful blonde genie in the world and watch her sleep. And the best part…" Then his voice trailed off to a whisper and he put his lips close to her ear. "She was naked."

That got them both laughing. "Trust me. I did my fair share of gawking," Chuck continued as soon as he could stop laughing. "You told me to get wild. Well, it was pretty wild. It was a nerd's fantasy come true. Ask Morgan sometime, or better yet, Jeff and Lester. I'd say that I got the better end of the deal."

Chuck couldn't see her face. It was buried in his shoulder. But he could feel her laughing. It felt like heaven. "Umm," she finally said. "I'm pretty sure that I'm never going to ask Jeff if seeing me naked is one of his fantasies. Thank you very much for putting that unwelcome image in my head. I think I'm quite willing to take your word for it. Besides, even if it's true, I'm still naked, you know?"

Chuck looked at her like she had grown a second head. "And I'm still looking," he said.

Suddenly, her lips were pressed to his. "Not good enough," she said with an evil smile as soon as the kiss broke. "I have explicit instructions from your doctor. In fact, if you really knew how explicit, you'd be embarrassed. Now that I'm well rested, I'm thinking that I can improve Jeff's fantasy by at least an order of magnitude."

Quickly the kissing escalated until she broke it and worked her way down his neck and unto his chest. "I don't know why you would need to be well rested," Chuck said. "Just hearing you say 'order of magnitude' would be enough to have Jeff needing to change his shorts."

That got her laughing again, so she had to pause on her journey south for a moment. "Eww," she said with a fake pout as soon as she could get the words out. "What did I tell you about putting disgusting images in my head? Why are you trying to spoil my good mood?" But the sparkle in her eyes told an entirely different story. They clearly said that she was very incredibly happy with him… and herself… and life in general for that matter. "At the very least, I owe you a back rub."

"Umm, Sarah," Chuck protested. "That's not my back."

"Semantics," Sarah said with a sly grin as she continued her efforts. "Now, are you going to continue to argue over insignificant details? Or are you going to relax and let me give you a story to tell Jeff that will definitely have him changing his shorts?"

Chuck gave in… as silly as that sounds in this context. "Trust me," he sighed as he closed his eyes.

"Jeff is never hearing this story."

x-x-x-x-x

"And just what is wrong with Sarah?" Ellie asked, rather pointedly. It had gone pretty well last night with dad. Actually, that was something of an understatement. She didn't let him off the hook on anything. But she had to admit, he had some pretty good answers. It didn't hurt at all that he acted like a protective dad for a while. He knew she was worried about Devon so he showed her the live feed of them. That helped a lot. They were clearly treating him well. She could have gone a long time without seeing that cocktail waitress person climb into bed with him wearing only that evil grin and the tiniest of cotton panties. But Dad explained to her that they were just staying in character. And that was a good thing. The longer that the bad guys thought they had Ellie Bartowski, the better it was. And Devon was so plainly nervous as hell. That came through loud and clear. Devon cheating on her was clearly the very last thing to worry about. It was cute enough to make up for most of Ellie's discomfort.

Ellie slept much better than she feared. She had to admit that it was an odd feeling. After all, she hadn't slept in the same room as Dad for over twenty years now. Fortunately, he gave her one of his t-shirts to sleep in that covered much more than Chuck's had with Cole in Cancun.

When they got up, the first thing Dad did was again show her the feed of Devon still sleeping. Ellie couldn't figure out which was more adorable… Devon trying to stay as far away from that Misty chick as possible and not fall out of the bed? Or Dad being protective of her again? It was a tie.

It had actually gone better with Dad than her wildest hope… until now. "How can you possibly say that she's bad for him? Dad, have you even seen them together? Sarah is the very best thing that has ever happened to him. He's the second most lovesick person I've ever heard of. She is the most lovesick person I've ever heard of. She is totally devoted to him. Just last night she was in tears because she thought she had let him down over some silly thing. And talk about being protective, if some random guy ripped off Chuck's parking spot at the mall, Sarah would drag him out of his car through the hole that she just punched in his window, kick and beat him to a bloody pulp, and then shoot him in the head five times. As disturbing as that sounds, it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen."

"Calm down, Eleanor," Steven said. "I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Sarah. Not really. I'm just saying you don't know her well enough."

"What could you possibly mean?" Ellie said, getting more and more agitated. "She's my best friend. I know her very well. The truth is that I know her a hell of a lot better than I know you."

"Do you?" Steven asked softly as he winced at her shot. "Eleanor, do me a favor, take a breath. You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. Sarah Walker is trained to get close to people. She may be the very best person at what she does in the entire world. If she wanted to fool you, she could. All you're seeing is what she allows you to see."

"Sarah's one of the good guys," Ellie insisted.

"That's another thing," Steven said. "I know you believe that. You see the CIA as the good guys and The Ring as the bad guys. Unfortunately, it's not that black and white. The CIA is willing to be just as evil as The Ring when it suits their purpose. They have trained thousands of agents like Sarah. They put them through an academy that makes Special Forces training look like a Girl Scout summer camp. When they come out, they are something less than human. They condition them to blindly follow orders. And those orders include simply awful things. Sarah has deceived men before. She's cheated them when she needed to, used her good looks when it was required, and even killed them… all in the name of the greater good. She's committed crimes that would have a normal person in prison for hundreds of years. She thinks that she has done her duty… and from her perspective she has. Trust me. I understand a lot better than you do what a woman like that is capable of. I've been married to one for thirty-five years now. I know exactly what challenges Chuck might have to face. In a perfect world, The Ring and the CIA could both go to hell. So understand, I'm not totally with Sarah's ideas of right and wrong… but I'm not totally against them either."

Ellie's ears picked up at the mention of her mom. That was definitely a topic she was interested in hearing much more about. But she was far too angry right now to have that conversation. "Then who are you totally for?" she spat.

Steven's face broke into a soft smile for the first time. "That one's easy," he said. "I'm totally for you. I'm totally for Chuck. I'm also totally for Devon, even though I've never met him. I'd like to be totally for Sarah, we'll see. I'm really only asking for a chance to prove that to you."

Ellie kept her emotional guard up. She refused to cave to her dad's emotion. "Sarah loves him," she insisted flatly.

"I hope so," Steven said. "But Chuck isn't the only man who was once convinced that Sarah Walker was in love with him. It didn't work out so well for the others."

Ellie was adamant. "She loves him," she said. "I would bet my life on it."

"You already are," Steven said softly. "Not only that, you're betting my life, Chuck's life, Devon's life, and the life of everyone that you care about. Look, Eleanor. Please don't get angry with me about this. I know that you love Sarah. I'd like to love her too. I'm not even saying that she doesn't love him. I think that she does after a fashion. But what comes first to her? Your brother needs someone who puts him first in every circumstance, not some misguided sense of duty. I really hope that you're seeing the real her. I'm just not completely positive of that, and I need to be. Sweetie, the stakes are simply too high."

"What are you going to do?" Ellie asked sadly.

Steven paused for a long moment. "Chuck's a grown man," he finally said softly. "He's entitled to make his own decisions and live with the consequences. But there is too much at stake here. It's not just Chuck. It's you, Devon, the whole family, and even more. I'm going to have to test her,"

"And how are you going to do that?" Ellie asked. "If I understand the situation, she just helped you break Chuck out of a government facility. I watched her kill two government agents just yesterday to try and rescue Devon. Isn't that proof enough for you?"

"I'm afraid not," Steven said. "I wish that it was. Eleanor, I'd like nothing more than to trust Sarah. But let's face it. She might just be thinking that her chain of command is compromised. She still might think that she is doing her duty by keeping Chuck out of the Ring's hands. I'm going to have to think of something that puts her in a position where she has to unconditionally choose between her duty and Chuck. Then we'll know."

"If Sarah passes, that's when I'll start being totally for her."

x-x-x-x-x

"How did you sleep?" Misty asked. The question was clearly rhetorical. She knew that Devon didn't sleep all that well. She could feel him tossing and turning all night. It was cute. But right now, Misty was more consumed… with consuming breakfast. She was starved. There was one thing about being a prisoner. They apparently ate well. She quickly took a drink of the freshly squeezed orange juice… and then turned her attention back to wolfing down her omelet. She even broke down and had a piece of bacon. It was surprisingly good.

For his part, Devon ignored her question. He recognized the rhetorical nature as well. "Don't you think you should get dressed, Ellie?" he asked. His emphasis on her 'name' was quite noticeable.

Misty knew that she wasn't playing fair by not getting dressed before breakfast. It wasn't her proudest moment. She normally would have covered herself. But this wasn't normal times. It was also not the time to be shy. If she was going to win Devon away from that Ellie person, it was time to bring out the heavy artillery. And her chest had always attracted a lot of attention from the boys, most times more than she wanted. So why not use all of her assets? She smiled at his shyness. He was clearly embarrassed. But he was also clearly looking. That was hopeful. "I thought that you like it when I act all slutty," she said. "You always did before. Are you going to finish that muffin?"

Devon groaned as he handed her the untouched half of his English Muffin with orange marmalade. "It's not me," he said. "But after all, who knows who else is watching us right now?"

Little did Devon know just how ironic his words were.

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw actually had a hard time pulling his attention away from the monitor. He turned to Hannah who was grinning. "She is really quite lovely. Do you think she knows we're watching?"

"She knows somebody's watching," Hannah said firmly. "Just look at her. She's intentionally leading with her chest. She's clearly quite proud of them."

"With good reason," Shaw said, more to himself than anybody. Then he clicked off the monitor. "Show him in."

Hannah got up, walked to the door, and led a man into the room.

"Okay, we're secure in here," Shaw said. "The cameras are off in this room. So no one is listening in. Tell me, why do you think your plan will work?"

"It can't do any worse than what you've been doing," he said sarcastically. "What do you have going? From where I'm standing, you don't have that much to lose."

"We need Bartowski in one piece," Shaw said. "I really don't care what happens to the others."

"Not even Walker?" he asked. "I thought it was pretty obvious that you had a thing building for her."

"Sacrifices need to be made," Shaw said with a sad smile. "Sure, I'd like my shot at her. Who wouldn't? But we need Bartowski. And we have other ways to get him to cooperate. The war depends on it. That trumps getting laid, even by her."

"You do realize that I'm going to have to use some distasteful tactics?" Bryce asked. "That's the only way to get Bartowski alone. He'll never fall for your trap. He would see it coming from a mile away. And even if he didn't, his handlers wouldn't let him. But I know him. I know exactly what buttons to push. He'll fight for her. He knows that he has something to prove. He knows that he isn't in her league, that she is just using him. But that alone won't be enough to flush him out. He also has to think that he's saving people he loves. Don't worry. I can do this without you being implicated. It's going to be fun."

Shaw's eyes narrowed considerably. "Tell me," he said slowly. "What do you get out of this?"

Bryce leaned forward with a grin. "Besides doing my duty?" he asked sarcastically. "She is a traitor, in more ways than one. She owes me a huge apology. And you're right about one thing, she'll do anything to protect him. I intend on having her prove that… multiple times. Let's put it this way, winning the war doesn't trump anything for me."

"Trust me. I've been there."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were just finishing getting dressed when Ellie pounded on the door. "My dad wants to see you right away," she said. "He says we have a crisis."

When Chuck and Sarah entered the room, Carina and Casey were already there. Their expressions were less than happy. The fact that Casey wasn't making any barbs at Ellie's expense about a basically naked woman on the screen with Devon told Sarah very clearly that something was seriously wrong. Normally she would have reacted to Chuck's jaw dropping as he saw her on the screen… but not now. She was starting to get that sinking feeling in her stomach. "What's up?" she asked.

"We have a big problem," Steven said with a sigh as he cued up the earlier video on the monitor. "I'm afraid it's one that changes everything."

"Bryce just made a deal with Daniel Shaw."

x-x-x-x-x


	16. Things That Don't Kill You

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Things That Don't Kill You**

x-x-x-x-x

All Sarah could do was stand numbly watching the video that Orion was showing them of Bryce plotting to sell them out to their worst enemy. This was more than just an ex partner. This was Chuck's friend. This was her friend. How could he do this? And the very worst part was that his plan actually had a chance to be effective. Chuck had a blind spot when it came to Bryce. He would be very susceptible to any suggestion that he wasn't willing to fight for her. That's why she made such a point of it with him last night at the bar. Yes, Chuck finally nodded his head and said that he agreed… but his body language told another story. He didn't really get it. Now Sarah had one more worry that she didn't need. How to keep Chuck from sneaking off in a foolish attempt to fight a battle that he couldn't possibly win against a trained agent? Especially if he thought that he was protecting Devon. She didn't even realize that Steven was speaking to her until he grabbed her arm.

"You know him best," Steven repeated. "What is he capable of?"

Sarah thought about the question. He had been acting so strangely lately. But this was Bryce. Two days ago, she would have had absolutely no question on how to answer. She had put her life in his hands more times than she could count. "I don't know," she finally admitted with a deep sigh. "I just don't know anymore."

"I talked to him," Ellie piped up. "I'll admit that I don't know him at all. But I was convinced that he thinks that Sarah still loves him and that they are going to end up together. She is just punishing him."

It was Carina who spoke up. "Jealousy is the most powerful of human emotions," she said. "He is clearly green with jealously. He's not thinking clearly. Thinking for a second that he can force Sarah to be with him by trapping Chuck proves that. There is no telling what he's capable of."

"I don't understand something," Ellie said softly. "They said that the cameras were off. How were we able to watch them?"

"They don't think I can turn on their cameras," Steven said. "It's actually amazing that they made it into leadership positions. They're not very bright."

"We'd better move," Casey said. "Pretty boy knows where we are. We probably only have a few minutes before we're surrounded."

"I agree," Steven said. "That would be prudent. Although I don't really think that Bryce would attack us that openly. It sounded more like his beef was with Chuck and Sarah. He wants to do this his way. Sarah, what did he say to you anyway?"

"He said that he was ready to fight," Sarah said numbly. "He said he would fight to get me back. Chuck said that he would fight too."

"That's what he meant," Steven said. "It's clear. He wants to fight Chuck for Sarah."

"But Dad," Ellie said. "How stupid is that? Sarah isn't some lady in waiting to be won in a foolish joust between two knights. This isn't the stone age."

Carina smiled. "You don't understand alpha males like Bryce," she said. "To them, when it comes down to women, they are still in the stone age. It sounds like he's decided that if he can't have Sarah, then no one will."

"So what's our move?" Casey asked. "The clock is ticking. We'd better find another place to hide."

"Or," Steven said. "We don't hide."

It was the very last thing Casey expected him to say. So his response was less than smooth. "Huh?"

"Bryce wants to fight Chuck," Steven said. "He thinks that's the way to win Sarah back. He is clearly planning on trading Devon and the girl pretending to be Ellie for that chance."

"There's no way Chuck is fighting Bryce," Sarah said firmly. "No way in hell. He wouldn't stand a chance. Even if it wasn't all a bullshit trap. It's not happening."

"Maybe," Steven said. "But don't be so hasty. What if Chuck did stand a chance?"

That definitely had Sarah more than a little confused. "How?" she asked dismissively. "Bryce is a trained agent. Besides, is Shaw going to allow that to happen? There would be a hundred agents waiting there for him."

"Maybe," Steven said thoughtfully. "But what if we could lure their hundred agents into a battle and defeat them? That would get them thinking. It might even scare them. It would give us some serious negotiation leverage."

"Okay," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Let's assume that's true for a minute. But even so, how is it possible? There are six of us. That's counting Carina. And I'm not sure about you, but Chuck and Ellie have never fired a gun before in their lives."

"It wouldn't be possible with guns," Steven said, "at least not only with guns. I've been working on a new intersect. It's model 2.0. It has some enhanced capabilities."

Sarah paused a moment. "What kind of capabilities?" she finally asked cautiously.

"Name it," Steven said. "Chuck would instantly become a world class expert at almost every physical skill that one can imagine. He would know every fighting move ever invented, be able to speak any language, in short he'd be a superman."

"No way," Sarah said flatly as she looked skeptically at Chuck. "Please don't take offense. You know that I mean no disrespect towards you. But quite frankly, that idea sounds pretty flaky to me."

"Okay," Steven said. "There is no time to explain this all now. We'd better get packed up and get out of here. We can talk more about this once we get someplace safe. Let's meet at the van in ten. Eleanor, you're already packed. Why don't you go with Chuck and help him? Sarah, could I talk to you for a quick second?"

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as the door closed Steven rounded on Sarah. "I'm very disappointed in you," he said. "I thought that you wanted to do the right thing. Maybe I give you too much credit."

Sarah just stood there for a long moment. She wasn't used to Steven being harsh with anybody, but especially not with her. "I do want to do the right thing," she said. "But I'm not sacrificing Chuck. And he has a blind spot. He is too much of a hero to turn down a chance to save somebody, especially me. He needs to be protected from that blind spot."

"Chuck is our only chance," Steven said. "You know that. Bryce has us desperate. Without Chuck taking the lead all of the things you have been fighting for your whole life go down the drain. The Ring wins and becomes in charge with no limit to their authority. The President gets assassinated. The country goes into martial law. Sarah, I know your history. I know the sacrifices that you've made. You have a reputation for always doing the right thing, no matter what it costs you personally. Now is not the time to stop. The stakes are incredibly high here. I can't have you fighting me on this."

Sarah paused for what seemed forever. "I don't want to fight you either," she finally said. "What are our chances?"

"Not great, I'm afraid," Steven said. "This is experimental code. I'd say the odds are decent of Chuck physically surviving the download process. I'd put it at about seventy percent, maybe higher. With anybody else that would go down to about ten percent. He could become a very powerful weapon, one they aren't expecting. If he was effective, we might just have a chance. But there are bound to be side effects. There is a good chance that he won't come out of this process the same person. And I'm afraid that some of the worst of those effects would be… irreversible."

"Dad," Sarah said. "That's crazy talk. Just listen to yourself. What good would victory be without Chuck? Even if we win, we lose."

"I know that it's crazy!" Steven shouted. "It's my fucking son we're talking about! Don't you dare lecture me about the sacrifices I've had to make. Do you think I'm happy about this? We don't have a choice here." Then he calmed himself. "Sarah, I'm sorry that I raised my voice to you," he said with a sigh. "We talk about making sacrifices for duty all the time. My family seems to be the poster child for that. This is one sacrifice that I'm afraid we're going to have to make. If you think that I'm happy about this, then you're crazy. Your best friend, and your country needs you. I can't have you fighting me on this, Sarah."

Sarah just stood there and stared at him. But she knew what he was talking about. He clearly was willing to make huge sacrifices, even with his kids. It's why he had left them without parents for the last twenty years. It was also the kind of sacrifice that was expected from a CIA Agent.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," Steven said. "It will be a lot easier on him if you're supportive. After all, he does love you. That would improve our odds quite a bit. I don't have to remind you that you've taken an oath to protect the greater good. This is unfortunately what that means. But understand something, Sarah. He needs some time to train before facing The Ring. That means we have to download the new program to him right away, probably this afternoon. This is happening with or without you."

"I trust that you'll do the right thing… just like you always have."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was the one who answered the door. Sarah just pushed past him into the room and walked up to Carina. "I need your car keys," she said.

Carina knew by the look on her face that this wasn't the time for discussion. She wordlessly handed her the keys.

Casey could also tell that something was seriously wrong. "What's up, Walker?" he asked.

Sarah ignored Casey for the moment. "You have an important decision to make," she told Carina. "Bryce knows that you were with us last night. You can go to Shaw right now and report your contact and our last position. He might mostly buy that you are still loyal and were just doing some recon. He might even allow you to participate in the search. If that happens you have to do your very best to help them find us. They'll be looking very carefully at you to see if you pull any punches. That also means you'll have to give up both of our safe houses. Don't worry, I won't be there. That might impress him. That and some serious groveling on your part might just be enough to keep you out ofLangley. Or you can run. If you run, stay away from the safe houses. Zondra will soon have the same choice."

Spies were always ready to disappear on a moment's notice. It was one of the rules of the profession. Carina just nodded.

Then Sarah slowly turned to face Casey. "I'm afraid that you don't have that option," she said. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into this. Do you have a place to go?"

"I'm not running," Casey said. "That means they win. That's not the kind of thing that I can live with. I'm going to fight. Besides, it's pretty arrogant to think that you dragged me into anything. I'm actually having fun. Stay and fight with me. You're not a runner."

"Sorry, John," Sarah said. "It's over. If it was just me, it would be different." She took his hand and pressed some bills into it. "This is a thousand dollars. It's all the cash I can spare right now. Don't go doing something stupid… like getting yourself killed."

Casey refused to take the money. "You're going to need cash far more than I am," he said. "I have my own. Besides, don't worry about me. I was doing this before you were wearing a training bra."

Then Sarah did the very last thing that Casey expected… or really wanted for that matter. She threw her arms around him and sobbed. "You're the best partner I've ever had. I… I wish it didn't have to end like this." They both knew what she was really saying. And she almost said it. But it wasn't the time or place for any mushy L word. Besides, she didn't have to say it. He already knew. They were now far more than partners. They were now family… and always would be.

"I'll never forget you, Casey. You have a nice long life."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah very carefully wiped her eyes before she opened the door to her and Chuck's room. The last thing she wanted was for him to see the tears in her eyes. But it didn't matter. After all, how could she possibly fool him? He knew right away anyway. "What's wrong?" he asked as he went to hug her.

Sarah didn't answer him. She gently stiff armed away his attempt to hug her. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

Chuck just looked at her. "What kind of question is that?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

"Answer me, damn it," Sarah snapped. "Do you trust me?"

"You know that I trust you," Chuck snapped back.

"Then for the next forty-eight hours I need you to follow my instructions without question, without hesitation, and without stopping to figure out what they mean," Sarah said. "Can you do that for me?"

Chuck nodded.

Sarah's shoulders noticeable sagged. "Damn it, Chuck," she said with a sigh. "You know damn well that I'm going to need to hear you say it. Bryce's betrayal was a huge blow for us. It has us desperate. The next two days are critical to us surviving. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get us through it. That means you might see some very unpleasant things out of me… things that we've talked about. From this point forward, your name is Charles Conner. My name is Sarah Conner. We've been married for three years. I need you to be strong for me. After all, this is what you were rooting for."

Normally Chuck would have reacted to the harshness in her tone, but not today. He knew that she wasn't really angry. He could tell by her voice that she was on edge and needed his support. "Okay," was all he said. "Don't worry about me. Do what you have to do."

Ellie stepped up to Sarah. "What are you talking about?"

Sarah turned to face Ellie. "We're leaving," she said. "We don't have a choice. But you do. You can come with us. Unfortunately, that would mean never seeingDevonor your dad again. Or you can stay, and that would mean never seeing Chuck or me again. If you stay, I guess that it's possible your dad can come up with a plan to rescueDevon. That's pretty doubtful, but I wouldn't underestimate him. After the coup when The Ring wins and is fully in charge, they would have no further use forDevon, so it's very possible they might let him go and allow you to live your lives in relative peace. Then again, they will be absolutely in charge with no one to answer to. They might enjoy using you as a symbol to extract revenge against Orion. I think your dad has probably told you enough about Daniel Shaw's methods to understand how that would most likely go. I'm not trying to scare you, Ellie. I just want you to understand the situation. I'll have no way to know what happens and won't be able to help you. I know that's a shitty choice. But it's what we're down to, I'm afraid."

Ellie was surprisingly calm. "So," she said. "You're just going to run? You're going to give up and let the bad guys win? That doesn't sound like the Sarah Walker I know. What about all that duty bullshit that you were always ranting on and on about?"

"I'm sorry, Ellie," Sarah said. "If I thought that I could fight, I would. I've made my decision. I'm protecting what's most important to me. You have to make yours. What's most important to you? I'll not lie. I'd love for you to come with us. I could protect you, at least physically. But that would make me a hypocrite, wouldn't it? I don't expect that you would ever give up on Devon any more than I would ever give up on Chuck." Then she paused for a long moment to gather her composure. "I can't cry right now," she said. "I just can't afford it. But I need you to know how much I'm going to miss you. I really loved having a sister. I'll always love you. I'll wait outside for you to say goodbye to your brother. Two minutes is all we can spare."

But then the very last thing that Sarah expected happened… the very last thing. Ellie grinned. "I knew it," she said.

Sarah stared at Ellie in total disbelief. Here she was fighting to keep from sobbing and Ellie was grinning. Frankly, it annoyed her more than just a little. "Okay, Ellie," she said in frustration. "I'm absolutely stumped here. What is it about this situation that could possibly even begin to strike you as amusing?"

But Ellie's grin just got bigger. "I was right," she said. "I told Dad exactly what you would do. I'm sorry that he felt that he had to put you through that. It was cruel. But come on, Sarah. Do I know you or what? There is no way that you would ever sacrifice Chuck."

"You know how much I love being right."

x-x-x-x-x

Steven was sitting at the table calmly waiting with a cup of coffee when Sarah flung the door open and stormed into the room. The door flew against the opposite wall with a huge boom. "A test?" she shouted. "Really, are you kidding me? This was all a sick test? Do you have even a tiny clue just how cruel that was?"

Steven just sighed. "Sarah, I understand that you're upset," he said. "I don't blame you. I had to be sure."

"Upset?" Sarah said incredulously. "You don't begin to understand how I feel. Right now, Dad, I could throw a knife right into your eye." The way that she emphasized 'dad' said that it wasn't exactly a term of endearment.

"I know," Steven said. "I suspected as much. After all, Sarah you're pretty fiery. And I really wouldn't blame you if you did. What I did was unfair. But please don't knife out my eye until I've had a chance to explain."

At this point Sarah wasn't herself sure how she felt. Was it rage? Or heartbreak that someone she trusted would do that to her? All she knew was she was battling to keep her composure. Then suddenly the battle was lost. "Okay, Dad," she sobbed as she finally allowed the tears to flow down her cheeks. "Do you know what you just put me through? Just what is it going to take for me to actually be a trusted part of this family? What is it that you want from me? Please tell me. Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just please, no more games. I can't take any more."

So now it was Steven's turn to lose his battle for composure. "I can't tell you how badly I feel right now," he said softly as he tried to blink back his own tears. "But put yourself in my shoes for a second. Can't you see how I might have had my doubts about you? You're just so good at what you do."

Sarah was honestly stunned at his mood. So she just stood there and began to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"If it helps anything," Steven continued, "I trust you now. You've earned that. I'm sorry that I just put you through the emotional wringer. Sadly, it was what I had to see. I had to know what was most important to you, Chuck or your duty. There was only one way to do that, by making you choose between them. For what it's worth, I'm very happy and relieved that you made the right choice. They say that the things that don't kill you make you stronger. I'm not sure how that's true in this case. But the good news is that I now trust you unconditionally. So let's turn this around. I'm thinking that it's now me that has to earn some trust from you. What's that going to take? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

For the life of her, Sarah honestly didn't know why she was sobbing. She had been furious. She had walked in here totally prepared to tell him to go to hell and walking back out. And crying in front of people was her worst thing. Maybe it was because she was too relieved to be all that angry. But it was much more likely something to do with finally earning his trust. He had never felt more like a dad to her, one who had just taught her a tough but valuable lesson. So she didn't exactly smile, but there was a growing twinkle in her eyes as she finished wiping the tears out of them. "You're just lucky that I didn't tell Casey that I loved him," she said. "That would have been a deal breaker. It might have just cost you an eye. Understand this. When I meet Chuck's mom I'm going to tell her all about you checking out the footage ofDevonand the almost naked fake Ellie."

Steven's head shot up. "Please,' he pleaded with the twinkle in his own eye now apparent. "I know that you're pissed. But I don't think that you know what you're saying. That would be… bad. Can we please think of some other punishment? I'll tell you what. Throw the knife. Better to lose one eye than both of them."

"Okay," Sarah said with the faint smile finally visible. "Maybe that is a tad harsh. How about you set it up so I have a chance to kick the crap out of Bryce Larkin? I can't believe that jerk played me like that. Kicking his ass around the room for an hour or so would definitely improve my current mood."

"Deal," Steven said with a short laugh. "I guess I'm willing to throw Bryce under the bus to save my own skin. But in fairness I do think that you should know that Bryce wasn't all that happy with that part of his assignment. He has, admittedly a tad grudgingly perhaps, finally come on board with the idea of you being with Chuck. He honestly cares for both of you. He told me to tell Chuck that he was very sorry for any discomfort that his speech caused. He also told me to tell you that he's never seen you so peaceful, although maybe he would change his mind about that if he had been here ten minute ago. Maybe he'll actually get to the place where he can be genuinely happy for you… someday. I have to say… for what it's worth, I'm at the place where I'm genuinely happy for you now. And that's not just because you're letting me off the hook with Mary… well, not totally anyway. I'll make no bones about the fact that I'm plenty worried about Chuck. He has found his way into some pretty tough breaks in the past few years. But he's also found you. I'd say that, all things considered, things have worked out pretty well for him. He is truly pretty lucky."

That finally got the genuine smile he was looking for. "Thanks," she said. "I assume that you actually have a plan to deal with our current situation that I might honestly approve of?"

"I do," Steven said with his own smile. "Bryce pretending to be jealous and wanting revenge was something more than just a test for you. It was more for Shaw's benefit. He was getting in character for his assignment. I knew that Shaw would buy Bryce wanting to see you in an uncomfortable spot for his own pleasure. After all, it's how he thinks as well. Why not use his own sick perversion against him? If you will gather the team I'll tell you all about it together."

"Yes, sir," Sarah said as she turned towards the door. "I'm going to take a few minutes first and calm down your kids. They are a mite agitated, especially the boy. Ellie's more gloating."

"That might be a good idea," Steven said. "Thank you. I've seen both of their tantrums more than once. They're not fun. I understand that I'm going to have to endure a big long I-told-you-so from Eleanor. She's somewhat of a poor winner."

"Yeah," Sarah said with a grin. "I do believe that I've experienced that a time or two myself."

"She loves you as much as he does… almost," Steven said with his own grin. "She was positively indignant on your behalf. And Sarah…"

Sarah paused at the door and turned to look at him.

Steven looked at her for a long moment. "I know that you have a dad," he said with a soft smile. "And I'm not him. But you are now part of my family, and we are having sort of a dad / daughter moment right now, so here's a bit of unsolicited fatherly advice. Feel just as free to scoff at it as Charles and Eleanor clearly do. I understand that you're reluctant to talk about feelings. That's part of who you are. But what would really be so horrible about telling Major Casey that you love him? Some cards just need to be on the table. Besides, it's not really a secret, is it? If it is, it's a horribly kept one. I thought that you CIA types were better at keeping secrets."

Sarah sighed. "Trust me, Dad," she said. "Chuck and Ellie don't scoff at you. It's anything but that. I understand that from where you're standing it might look like it sometimes. They just have walls built up that they're afraid of letting you through. Put yourself in their shoes for a second. They're afraid of being hurt again. It's actually because they value you so much. And as far as me telling Casey anything like you're suggesting, trust me again…"

"That's one tantrum that you don't want to see."

x-x-x-x-x

_A/N: Okay. So I can tell by the reviews that some of you were really looking forward to Bryce turning evil and getting his butt (or other parts of his anatomy) kicked by Sarah again. Sorry about that. One of the first promises that I made to BrickRoad when we started talking about writing Long Brick Road together was we wouldn't make any of the existing characters into bad guys. BrickRoad isn't all that keen on bad guys of any type, but she is especially protective of Bryce and Cole. She is almost as protective of them as some of you are with Sarah. Well, no, I guess that's not true, she does realize that they are fictional lol. But she is still pretty protective. And even though she's about as far away from me right now as she could possibly be without the assistance of NASA, I still don't want to break my promise to her._

_So expect Bryce to be treated much as Cole was before him - a hero who definitely has flaws but genuinely cares for both Chuck and Sarah, has grudgingly come to accept that they are together, maybe even in time will become happy for them (assuming that he lives longer than he did on the show), and most importantly is willing to make huge sacrifices to do the right thing._

_I thought briefly about hooking up Bryce with Misty for a hot, steamy scene or two. But then I remembered, BrickRoad isn't all that keen on hot, steamy scenes either (come on, BR, you know I'm just kidding). I think I'll stop now before I really get in trouble with her, lol. Hmmmm. Do you think that being farther away from me factored into her decision at all? No, me either. But still…_

x-x-x-x-x


	17. The Swim Team

_Okay, a bit of a bonus. Thanks to my friend Lucky47, I find myself ahead. Unfortunately, I've used so much of her time that the next chapter of Family Matters is probably going to be delayed. Damn, it is going to be so good too. Bryce is really going to… Oh, sorry guys, no spoilers, lol._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Swim Team**

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah got back to their room, the mood was pretty much the same as she had left it. Ellie was still gloating about being right. Chuck was still furious. His throwing stuff around the room showed that he was actually more livid than Sarah had been… and that was saying something. "Are you okay?" he asked as soon as she closed the door.

Sarah knew that she needed to calm him down. "I'm fine," she said with what she hoped was a relaxed smile. The last thing that she wanted was for Chuck to think that she was laughing at him. But suddenly the situation stuck her as more ridiculous than anything. Ellie was trying her best. Well, actually that wasn't exactly true. She was too busy patting herself on the back to be all that calming. In fact, her gloating had him more on edge than he was before.

"He shouldn't have done that to you," Chuck muttered with gritted teeth. "If I was speaking to him, I'd march over there and tell him off. In fact, I think I am anyway."

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Sarah couldn't keep the fuzziness out of her stomach. Her guy was fighting mad on her behalf. How sweet was that? "Chuck," she said as grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to spin him to face her. She calculated the force so that she ended up exactly where she wanted to be. He instinctively put his arms around her to steady them from falling. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist so he had no choice. They were in an embrace. If Ellie would only leave… "Ellie," she said with a look over Chuck's shoulder that she couldn't possibly miss. "You dad wants to brief the team on our current status. Could you gather Casey and Carina? We'll meet you in your dad's room in, say, fifteen minutes?"

Unfortunately Ellie's antenna was somehow damaged this morning. Perhaps it was overloaded from excessive accumulated gloating. "If I go over there," she said. "I'm not going to witness anything that will make me want to gouge my eyes out, will I?"

Sarah couldn't keep the annoyance out of her voice. "No," she said. "But if you stay here you might." She could tell by the red that was already reaching into Ellie's face that the message had finally been received.

Ellie made a hasty retreat. "I'll see you over there," she said over her shoulder as she was already walking out the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Sarah planted a soft kiss on his lips. "I understand that you're angry," she said. "I was at first as well. But the honest truth is that your dad did a tough thing, but for the right reason. He did the right thing."

Chuck scoffed at that. "How could being cruel to someone I love be the right thing?" he asked.

"He was being sure," Sarah sighed. "And the fact of the matter is he is right. CIA Agents are trained to fool people. I'm very good at it. I have done it very successfully in the past. Your dad needed to make sure. He did it because he loves you. As pissed as I was at first, he did what he should have done. How can I be angry at him for doing tough things to protect you?"

Chuck seemed to consider that, but he clearly wasn't completely convinced. "Is he sure now?" he asked sarcastically.

"You should ask him that," Sarah said. "The main question is, are you sure?"

That finally got the shaky smile she was looking for. "You were going to risk everything you've ever believed in to protect me," he said, his voice no more than a whisper. "Ellie just told me what you thought was happening. I don't know what to say. How can I possibly begin to say thank you for something like that?"

Sarah looked at him trying to blink back his own tears. How cute was that? "You don't have to thank me," she said with her own grin. "In case you haven't figured this out yet, I just did what I wanted to do. It was just as much for me as it was for you. But…"

"But?" Chuck questioned. "What does 'but' mean?"

"Well," Sarah said as her grin turned sheepish. "It sounds like you have some guilt to work off. Unlike you, I'm willing to allow you the chance to do that."

Chuck's eyes widened as he realized her meaning. "Now?" he asked

"Don't be silly," Sarah replied with a fake pout. "We only have fifteen minutes. Surely you have more guilt to work off then that, right? I'm thinking tonight, I get a genie. After all, you had one last night."

"You do realize," Chuck said with a grin. "That you don't need a genie. I'm happy to do whatever you want. Not because I'm feeling guilty."

"I know," Sarah said. "This is a game, Chuck, nothing more. You're taking it way too seriously. If it makes you uncomfortable…"

"No," Chuck interrupted. "I'll play your game. Okay, tonight you get a genie."

"Good," Sarah said. "In that case I can admit I'm really looking forward to it."

"I just want to go on record that I didn't have my genie do anything last night."

Sarah's grin turned evil. "I know," she said.

"I'll bet you will next time."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon and Misty were told to quickly eat lunch because they had an appointment. And they were actually looking forward to it. Anything beat sitting in their cell and waiting.

Misty rather reluctantly got dressed. It didn't take that long. All they had to put on were the same clothes they wore yesterday. They were led down a twisting maze of hallways that all looked so exactly identical that Misty was getting a bad science fiction movie vibe. Until finally they were pointed to a door, asked to go in and take a seat.

It looked pretty much like a conference room. Devon had been in hundreds of meetings in similar rooms at the hospital, except this one didn't have any windows. There was a tall, muscular man with jet black hair sitting at the head of the table. Misty looked at him closely. Some women might find him attractive, except he gave off somewhat of a creepy vibe.

Then he spoke, and the creepy vibe was magnified. "Dr. Woodcomb," he said. "Dr. Bartowski, my name is Special Agent Daniel Shaw. I hope you found your quarters satisfactory."

"I'm afraid not,"Devon said. "Frankly I find your question offensive. We're being held against our will. How could that possibly be satisfactory? We were drugged. I demand to speak to an attorney."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible," Shaw said.

"Why not?" Misty demanded. "We demand that our constitutional rights be respected."

"Actually," Shaw said. "You can be detained without cause for…"

"Forty-eight hours," Misty interrupted. "Yes, that's true. But that is rapidly approaching. By this time tomorrow, it will have expired."

"Very sharp, Dr. Bartowski," Shaw said. "Perhaps you're in the wrong field."

Misty, for obvious reasons, didn't mention the fact that she was a pre-law major for three years. She had every intention of going to law school… until she found out how expensive the good ones were. So maybe she could get some respect from this guy, whoever he was. Even better, Devon was looking at her with a new attitude. Maybe she could impress her new prospective guy with something other than her chest. Besides, whoever this Agent Shaw guy was, Misty could already feel the dislike building inside her. So she made no attempt to keep the distain from her voice. "I may not be an attorney," she said. "But trust me. I can hire the very best ones. I'll be sure to get one that will have a legal boot in the form of a harassment suit so far up your ass that you're going to need my surgeon fiancé here to remove it."

Shaw was actually taken aback… for about a second. "Unfortunately, Dr. Bartowski," he said. "Your constitutional rights have been suspended for thirty days by an executive order pursuant to article three of the Patriot Act."

"The Patriot Act?" Misty questioned. "Are we suspected terrorists? That's ludicrous."

"Not you, Dr. Bartowski," Shaw said. "Your brother is wanted in connection with several domestic incidents. Doesn't he live with you?"

Shaw waited until he was sure that they weren't going to answer. "I thought so," he said with a smile. "I'm afraid that makes you subject to the provisions of the act. You're going to be with us for a very, very long time, unless I get some cooperation."

"What kind of cooperation are you looking for?" Devon asked. "We don't know where Chuck is. We haven't seen him in well over a week."

"Ah," Shaw said. "Finally, we're getting somewhere. Allow me to introduce you to the agent who is in charge of the search for Mr. Bartowski." He nodded to one of the guards who opened the door.

Misty looked up as the man entered the room. He was probably the prettiest man she had ever seen. He was every bit as good looking as her Devon… and she wouldn't have believed that was even possible not five minutes ago. He was good looking in a different way, perhaps. But… damn.

"This is Agent Larkin," Shaw said. "We're going to leave you alone. He can fill you in on the cooperation we'd like from you."

As soon as the door closed, Bryce sat down and smiled. "Dr. Woodcomb," he said. "We've already met once. Dr. Bartowski, it is a pleasure."

"Or should I say Miss Collins?"

x-x-x-x-x

Steven addressed the team that was squeezed into in his room. Well, actually that wasn't exactly accurate. It was clearly Orion who was doing all of the talking. "Let me begin by apologizing to you for the little drama this morning," he said. "I had my own reasons."

It was Casey who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Can we expect any more of that?" he asked sarcastically. "Are there any others of us that you'd like to test?"

But Steven didn't give an inch. "My reasons are my own," he said sharply. "I don't question your loyalty, Major. If I did, you wouldn't be standing here. I can appreciate you standing up for your partner. I would frankly expect nothing less from you. But understand something. Sarah was different. She was seeking total access to the most valuable thing in my life. If you're looking for an apology for my concern, you can just keep looking. Unless you or Agent Miller here intends on marrying or otherwise getting intimate with one of my children any time soon, the answer to your question is no. I take it that neither of you are."

Casey's face was more than a little red as he, more or less snapped to attention. "No, sir," he replied.

"Agent Miller?" Steven asked.

Carina was a little harder to make blush than Casey, but she quickly followed suit. "No, sir," she said. "I'm already in enough trouble, sir."

Steven's face broke into somewhat of a smile. "Good," he replied. "That would only make an already complicated situation even more so. Agent Miller, we have somewhat of a decision to make."

"Sir?" Carina snappily replied.

"You currently have a choice," Steven said. "We'd love to have you stay with us. We could certainly use your talents. I'm sure I'm not going to tell you anything that you don't already know. I just want it on the table. Staying here with us means breaking ties with the CIA for what may very well turn out to be forever. You would have an immediate sanction placed on you. The most likely outcome of the current crisis is that the CIA in the way that you know it is going to cease to exist. But, it would certainly be replaced by something. And they would need people like you. You can leave now and continue your career. Nobody will know any difference. Nobody in this room will think any less of you no matter what your choice. However, if you are planning on leaving, I need to insist that you do it now. Please don't take offense. If I didn't trust you, you also wouldn't be standing here. But I want to keep any knowledge of our plans as tightly controlled as possible. I hope that you understand."

"I understand completely, sir," Carina replied. "Actually, the agency the way I know it has already ceased to exist. I would have no interest in becoming the tool of the Secret Police organization that will almost certainly be created in it's place. I've already made my decision. I'm staying, sir."

"Good," Steven said. "In that case, welcome aboard. And stop calling me sir. My name is Steven. If you prefer to be more formal, Orion will work."

That actually got a smile, and not only a smile, somewhat of a genuine one. "In that case, Steven," she said. "My name is Carina."

"Okay, Carina," Steven said. "Let's get down to business. As you've almost assuredly already surmised, Bryce's actions of last night were not genuine. He is on an assignment."

"An assignment to test Sarah," Chuck said. "That seems a waste…"

"Not really," Steven replied. "Son, do me a favor. I understand that you don't like what I did to your fiancé this morning. I find it hard to fault you for that. For what it is worth, I didn't like it either. I'm sorry that I felt it was necessary. I want to formally apologize to her in front of you all. Sarah is an unbelievably incredible person who didn't deserve to be treated like that. Nothing of the sort will ever happen again. But please hear me out before you make any permanent judgments. Testing Sarah was not Bryce's main objective. Not at all. That was simply a side benefit."

"Okay," Chuck said without any humor whatsoever. "What was his main objective?"

"His main objective is to gain the trust of Daniel Shaw," Orion said. "And there is a very straightforward way to do that. You see, son, Shaw has a professional objective. He desperately needs the intersect controlled. But he also has a personal one. He wants… well… how can I say this delicately?"

"He wants to hump Sarah," Chuck interrupted dismissively. "Yeah, I think that everybody gets that." Then his voice trailed off to a mumble. "He can get in line."

Sarah was already blushing at Dad's gushing compliment but she couldn't help but grin at Chuck's crack. She reached down and squeezed his hand.

"I'm afraid so," Steven said with a soft smile beginning to appear. "He's probably honestly not all that unique in that single characteristic. But this is much more than just a case of a simple infatuation. She is a symbol to him. He wants to see her broken. He's sort of consumed by it. He would risk a lot to make it happen. And that's his weakness. That's why he would immediately believe Bryce when he came forward with a plan claiming to want the exact same thing. After all, in his mind that's what anybody would want."

Now it was Ellie who spoke up. "Okay, Dad," she said. "So now Bryce Larkin is Shaw's best friend. How does that help us?"

"I never said that Bryce is his best friend," Steven said with his smile growing. "Shaw doesn't have friends. He doesn't even understand the concept. At most he sees Bryce as a friend in the enemy-of-my-enemy sense. In fact, he'd rather enjoy double crossing Bryce, killing him, and taking his place with Sarah as soon as possible. Bryce's assignment is very dangerous. I hope that we all keep in mind how courageous he is being on our behalf when he comes back and we help him struggle through his personal issues. But anyway, Shaw doesn't like Bryce, he just believes his motives are genuine. And he has something to gain if his plan is successful. That means he will be willing to help as much as he possibly can."

"I'm confused," Casey said. "Shaw wants the intersect, not Walker."

"But see," Orion said. "He wants both. He needs Chuck… but he wants Sarah. That's exactly what Bryce's plan is. He's convinced Shaw that if you have Chuck, Sarah will quickly follow. And vise versa. If you have Sarah, Chuck will quickly follow. He's actually quite right. Bryce is going to deliver Chuck to Shaw in order to get Sarah to surrender. That makes perfect sense to Shaw. He believes she would surrender. She would have when they had him the first time, they're just too stupid and arrogant to have thought of it. If they had captured them together, they would both have done anything to protect the other."

"Okay," Sarah finally said. "Yes. That's probably true. We would do anything to protect each other. Shaw probably believes that. Just how does that help us?"

"Bryce has convinced Shaw that he can goad Chuck into sneaking off and fighting him for Sarah's honor," Steven said. "Especially when he has Chuck's sister and her fiancé. Shaw is perfectly willing to let him try."

Casey's eyes suddenly lit up. "Larkin is going to put on a show with the fake Ellie," he said. "He is going to be taunting Chuck."

"Exactly," Steven said. "The show will be aimed at Chuck, but the audience will be Shaw. He'll witness Bryce telling Chuck that he's taken his sister away, and now will take Sarah away. It will drive Chuck crazy. He will secretly contact Bryce, agree to meet, and insist that he bring Ellie and Devon. Naturally, Shaw will insist that he bring along some agents to set a trap. He may even come himself. If we could capture him…"

Sarah's eyes lit up at the idea of getting a crack at Daniel Shaw. But certainly not at the cost he was inferring. "Dad," she said hesitantly. "You know that I can't allow Chuck to be the bait in the middle of any trap."

Steven just laughed. "Yes, Sarah," he said. "Don't worry. Your position on that topic is quite clear. Chuck won't be anywhere close. Just the phone that he's using will be. Bryce will bring Devon and the girl as his part of the bait. He will position his agents in ambush position."

"And we'll be there to ambush the ambush," Carina said. "Brilliant."

"Okay," Casey said as he rubbed his hands together excitedly. "So we've rescuedDevon. And maybe even captured this Shaw prick. What next? How do we defeat The Ring's main plans and save the country?"

"We don't," Steven said. "Once we have Devon, we're done. We go underground and they never see us again."

That turned the room quiet. "But Dad," Ellie finally said. "Doesn't that mean that the bad guys win?"

"We're done," Steven said firmly. "Eleanor, they're too powerful. They are probably going to win anyway. My family has paid enough. We can hide. I have enough money and resources put away that we can live very comfortably. They will never begin to know where to look for us."

"But Dad," Ellie protested.

"Your dad is absolutely right," Sarah said. "We're done. It's time we started living our lives, act like a real family again."

"You just said that The Ring was probably going to win anyway," Chuck said slowly, more to himself than anybody. "What did you mean by probably?"

"Look, son," Steven said haltingly. "The only way to have a chance would be by using the new intersect. But we don't have to do that. Okay, so The Ring will win a victory that they would never be able to win politically. So what? Most people in the country won't even know or care."

Chuck paused for a long moment. "I'd know," he finally said.

"I'd care," Casey said.

"So would I," Carina agreed. "I'll download it."

Steven smiled. "That's very brave, Carina," he said. "But that wouldn't work. You would have about a five percent chance of surviving the download process. Who knows what it would do to you after that? I already had to talk Bryce out of it. Chuck is the only one who we know it would work on. So it's off the table."

"Why is it off the table?" Chuck demanded angrily.

Sarah squeezed the hand that she was still holding from earlier. "Because it is," she said softly. "Come on, sweetie. Since the first day when you got stuck with that damned intersect, all you could ever talk about was wanting to get rid of it. You always wanted to live a normal life. It's time to do that."

Chuck just looked at her.

Steven really didn't want any part of what was now clearly a domestic situation. "I think we're done here," he said. "Let's get back together at dinner time. We'll review whatever has happened on the surveillance front."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah knew that Chuck wasn't happy. She could tell that the instant they were alone in their room. Then again, it wasn't all that hard to tell. He was clearly moping. That was annoying in itself. What she didn't need was…

"You don't think I can do it, do you?" Chuck finally said. It was far more accusation than question. You don't think I can be as brave as Bryce or Cole. You don't think I'm that guy."

Sarah took a deep breath and pushed her own frustration down. Getting into a fight about this would not be productive. So she forced the soft smile on her face. "You're kidding, right?" she asked. "Chuck, how many times do you have to be the hero before you will realize that you are that guy?"

"Then why are you fighting me so hard on this?" he asked. "Let's face it. You're afraid that I'll let you down."

"You're not going to be happy until you pick a fight with me over this, are you?" Sarah asked as her smile faded. "Do you really think that I question your bravery? Chuck, I've seen you jump off a building – to save me. I've seen you stand in front of a bomb and allow yourself to be blown up – just because you didn't want me to die alone. I've seen you throw your body into a pile of agents – to protect me. That's not what I'm afraid of."

"Then what?"

"It's exactly the opposite," Sarah sighed. "Chuck, you've done all those brave things when you've had no clue what you were doing. And that made them foolish and reckless. What's going to happen when you actually have some weapons? You're going to throw yourself into even more and more dangerous situations, until your luck runs out."

"But I could really make a difference," he protested.

"Don't you get that you already have made a difference?" Sarah asked, perhaps a little more harshly than she intended. "Chuck, you've fought for two years now. You've accomplished more than any other person I know of. But it's over. Look around. You can start living the life you've wanted." Then the smile appeared. "In case you've forgotten this point, you've also now got the girl. Isn't that what you wanted? Remember three weeks ago at the fountain? You were going to live the life you wanted with the girl that you loved? I assumed you meant me."

Chuck took a breath. "Of course I meant you," he said. "I'm sorry if I'm making you think anything else. You know that I would never do anything like this unless you were on board. But what would be the harm in downloading it? That doesn't mean I have to use it. I could learn how to control it. At least it would be there."

Sarah just shook her head. "We don't need it," she said. "Besides, I know you. If you have those skills, you're going to stand there and do nothing when people are in trouble? That's not very realistic, is it? We both know how that would go. How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"One where we both get something," Sarah said. "I know that you want to start a family. If you give up this idea… I'll agree to start trying."

Chuck narrowed his eyes. "Is that really what you want?"

Sarah looked at him for a long moment. "I'm not a hypocrite," she finally said. "I'm begging you to live a normal life with me. Yes, that means I have some growing to do as well. You want total honesty? Okay, some parts of that are a little intimidating to me. Before I met you, I never saw it happening. But I'm also excited to tackle a new challenge. And I can't wait to do that with you. It's what we promised each other that night in Cancun, right? So, yes, it's exactly what I want."

"When are you planning on the family part?" he asked.

"When?" Sarah repeated with a smile. "That's actually not totally up to me, is it? There's the bed. I'm assuming that your swimmers are all warmed up and ready to go. As long as that's true, I'm ready to start trying right now. I'll admit being a mother is the part that scares me the most. I think you know that. I don't have a clue what to do so I'm really going to need you to be there for me. And neither of us has much background to help us be parents. I'm being totally honest. If it was up to me, I'd want to wait a few years. But I'll admit that's my fear talking. If it would get you to give up this idea, I'll set aside my fears and do it now. I'll even be excited about it."

Chuck couldn't help but smile. "How about this," he said. "We let my swimmers into the deep end of the pool. I'll download the new intersect and you and I start to train. We'll see how it goes. You get veto power. Any point when you say the word, we stop."

"Chuck," Sarah said warningly. "You've never wanted to be the intersect. Why is this suddenly so important to you? Tell me the truth. Is this just because you want to get Daniel Shaw?"

Chuck just looked at her for a long time. "That's not the only reason," he finally said. "This isn't jealousy. I can't stand you thinking that. He's a threat to you. As long as he's out there someplace, you'll never be completely safe."

Sarah sighed. "I thought so," she said. "Chuck, you don't have to do that for me. Okay, yes, the sentiment is unbelievably sweet. But I don't want you to get Shaw. I want you to be my husband. I want you to be a father to our children. And for you to do those things, you have to be there. Remember three weeks ago at the fountain? You said that you wouldn't let this thing rob you of the life that you wanted. Please don't let it rob me of the life that I want."

Chuck paused for a long moment. "I would never let anybody or anything rob you of that," he said softly. "I promise. All I'm asking you for is the chance to see how it works. Train me. It would be something fun that we can do together. We'll see how it goes. If you don't think I'm ready to face him, I'll let you make that call."

"Chuck," Sarah said firmly. "You're making me a solemn promise here. I get to make the call, for whatever reason I come up with. And I have to tell you, the danger is not my only concern."

"I understand," Chuck said with a growing smile. "You know that I would never break that kind of promise to you. What's the matter? Afraid you won't be able to kick my ass any more?"

"If I agree," Sarah said with just the beginnings of her own smile. "I have some non-negotiable conditions. First, Dad has to convince me that this process is safe. Second, I am in total charge of your training. Third, I get complete veto power over any missions. We don't go after Shaw unless I sign off. Finally, I'm going to be looking very carefully to make sure that it doesn't change you. That's my biggest fear. I know what having that much power can do to people. If I don't like what I see, Dad takes it out of your head, no whining, no pleading, and no negotiation. Do we have deal?"

"I have a few conditions of my own," Chuck said with a grin. "First, the swimmers get unfettered access to the pool whenever they want. Second… well I guess there is no second. That will actually do pretty nicely."

"Careful, stud," Sarah said with a laugh. "Don't go writing checks that your swimmers can't cash. Don't forget I'm still owed one active, enthusiastic genie tonight. If you think I'm letting you off the hook on that one…"

"This is going to be so great," Chuck said as he reached over and began to pull her shirt out of where it was tucked into her jeans. "On so many levels that it's getting hard to keep track. I know that you're afraid of being a mom. You shouldn't be. I can't wait. You're going to be so great at it. You're Sarah. You are great at everything."

Sarah looked at her guy. He was so excited. She really knew that she should put up more argument… but she couldn't. This was such a normal couple moment. They were going to become a family. Not only that, she suddenly found her knees weak from anticipation. She always loved it when Chuck made the first move. "This really isn't a fair negotiating tactic," she complained as she lifted her arms to allow him to lift her shirt over her head and toss it unceremoniously to the floor. "You know that I can't turn this down. I'm addicted."

"Hey," Chuck said with the grin that she simply had no will to resist. "Look at this way. We're going to save a small fortune on condoms."

"Maybe," Sarah said as she stepped out of the jeans that were now lying in a heap around her ankles. "But have you ever priced baby formula?"

"No," Chuck said incredulously. "Do you mean that you have?"

"Well, no," Sarah admitted sheepishly.

"But I'll bet it's pretty expensive."

x-x-x-x-x


	18. Chuck and Sarah End Their Engagement

_This chapter features a situation that BrickRoad and I talked about a lot when we were writing Ellie's temporary infatuation with the exciting life of a spy femme fatale in The Long Brick Road. While we're on the subject, I know that I've taken a lot of grief for too much sex in my stories, but it was actually BR who wrote most of the near-sex scene between Cole and Ellie. I had to go in and tone it down to keep the story rated T (I'm just kidding). BR said it was the most explicit thing she's ever written. She says that I've corrupted her, lol._

_So it's in BR's honor that I dedicate the title to this chapter. It's sort of an inside joke._

_Warning: I'm going to start adding this warning now. Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil the specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning starting now._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Chuck and Sarah End Their Engagement**

x-x-x-x-x

Misty had to admit, her head was swimming. Just what had she gotten involved in here anyway? Seriously – a plot to overthrow the United States government? This was starting to sound like a bad conspiracy movie trailer. So this Bryce was apparently one of the good guys. But he was pretending to be a bad guy?

She was honestly having a hard time following the conversation. For one thing, this Bryce was keeping his voice low and was talking pretty fast. Just who was this gang that he was talking about anyway? Okay, so Ellie was Devon's fiancé. She had that. And Chuck was obviously her brother. That Shaw jerk said that. And for some reason, all this drama seemed to center around him. But Devon said that he worked in a Buy More. What would a big box appliance store worker possibly be doing leading a revolt against the government? Or was he trying to prevent the revolt? It was all so confusing.

And who was this Sarah that he kept talking about? Devon just called her Chuck's girlfriend. But then he said something about her being Bryce's ex. There was clearly some sort of brief but noticeable tension between the two men when her name was mentioned. Bryce kept referring to her as an agent. There was also clearly quite a gang. He mentioned someone called Casey… and Carina, and someone called Orion. He also mentioned Ellie's dad and some men named John and Steven. And who was this General Beckman? Yup, it was all too confusing.

At least this Bryce told them that they could speak freely once they were back in their room. Apparently, the bad guys were afraid to have any surveillance there because this Chuck was some sort of computer genius and they didn't want to give them access to any information. That meant that Devon could explain things to her tonight.

The one thing that Misty did understand was that this was all a plan to rescue them… and that it was a key to make them believe that she was Ellie… oh, and that part of the plan was to make the bad guys think that this Bryce was attempting to seduce her.

That part of the plan actually didn't sound half bad.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie stood and sadly watched Chuck and Sarah spar. It really wasn't something that she was eager to watch, but she had no choice. It was her assignment, straight from dad. That was his pound of flesh. If he was going to allow Chuck to download intersect 2.0 and train, even with Sarah's approval, he demanded that it was going to be supervised by constant medical attention. And since Ellie was the only doctor on the team, well you do the math.

Actually Ellie had somewhat mixed emotions. After all, this was the brother that she had raised from a young boy they were experimenting on, not some lab rat in a class exercise. And she had some incredibly anxious moments when his blood pressure during the download process went well into the red for over a minute. He even very nearly lost consciousness for a moment there. She put him through such an exhaustive exam after it was over that he honestly was starting to get annoyed with her.

On the other hand, Dad's research was nothing short of fascinating. Neurology was Ellie's specialty anyway. And Dad's theory, treating the brain as if it were a computer was such a novel approach that Ellie was dying to help him write it up and present it to the Journal for publication. Not that it was likely to ever happen, but he could have received quite a bit of fame in the medical community. Then there was that. It was such a bonding opportunity for them. It was a language that they shared when dad-little-girl-speak no longer worked. The added benefit was it took her mind off Devon… for a while anyway.

And Ellie actually found that she could contribute. Dad was clearly onto something. His work so far was definitely on the right track. There were certainly some similarities to the way a computer and a human brain worked. But there were significant differences as well. And Dad's computer bus style design didn't take advantage of the multiple data paths that were built into the brain. That was, by his own admission putting undue stress on the nervous system. But to his credit, he picked up on Ellie's suggestions quickly. In fact, he was back in his room pouring over a simulation model right now. Ellie found herself eager to get back there and share whatever progress he had made.

But first she was stuck watching this… disaster. There was no other way to describe it. Sarah had found a tiny, martial-arts shop and waived some cash in front of the owner's nose. That got them private use of the back room and equipment for the whole afternoon. Ellie noted with some level of amusement how the man's eyes bugged out looking at Sarah. She could have almost assuredly waived something else in front of his face and saved a lot of money. To her credit, she didn't go there at all. That was a huge difference from only a couple of weeks ago. In Cancun, her first instinct seemed to be to flirt to get what she needed. "Maybe the girl is actually learning how to be a real girlfriend," Ellie smiled to herself.

One other thing that Ellie did learn about Sarah – she was somewhat less than a gentle instructor. Apparently the CIA Academy created more the screaming drill-sergeant type. And since Chuck wasn't really keen on being screamed at by anybody, and especially not Sarah, it was turning out to be a very long session.

The problem wasn't that Chuck couldn't flash. He did, several times. And every time he flashed, he got the required skills. It was that it was never in time. And that was exactly what Ellie was trying to tell Dad. The brain needed some specific stimulus to access that much data that quickly. And that stimulus would be different for every person. For Dad's design to be at all effective, each individual would have to figure out what his specific stimulus was. That characteristic really didn't lend itself to a mass deployment.

Sarah had already spent most of the afternoon screaming at him. Even going at half speed she was able to land almost any kick or punch that she wanted. And every time that she switched fighting styles, the intersect took far too long to catch up. In a real fight, he wouldn't last thirty seconds. It had them both pretty frustrated.

Finally, Sarah had Carina take over. Perhaps the problem was that Chuck just didn't want to hit Sarah. But that wasn't going any better. Actually, Carina didn't scream at him. But she also wasn't nearly as gentle with the punches and kicks. Perhaps she was working out some anger issues of her own from Chuck ratting her out over that little attempted seduction misunderstanding thingy.

It was pretty obvious, even to Ellie, that the intersect simply wasn't making Chuck anywhere close to effective. The worried look on Sarah's face said that she understood that better than anyone. She was clearly trying to figure out how to end this without starting another argument.

There was another thing that was obvious even to Ellie. And that was the shop owner, she thought that his name was Jake, was going to eventually take his shot at Sarah. And sure enough, here he was. These alpha-male type men were just too predicable.

"Hey," he said as he came up behind where she was standing watching, much too close to be appropriate. "What's the story with this guy? He's training to be a tackling dummy?"

Sarah was much to intent watching Chuck trying to fend off Carina's blows to pay any serious attention. So she simply took a step away from him. "My fiancé is just trying to get in shape," she said without turning to look at him. Hopefully her emphasis on the word 'fiancé' would get the point across, even to this Neanderthal.

No such luck.

Jake took another step towards Sarah, removing the distance that she had just placed between them, once again standing inappropriately close. "It looks like he's training to work in the morgue… on one of the slabs," he said with a grin, apparently proud of his witty repartee.

Sarah sighed. She was hoping to avoid a confrontation with this guy in front of Chuck. After all, another argument with him today wasn't high on her wish list. But this breathing pile of testosterone just wasn't going to take even a not-so-subtle hint. So she turned to give him a very big piece of her mind and shoot him down in the Sarah Walker style, one that he would never soon forget. But she never got there. Suddenly her attention was focused back on Chuck.

Carina had thrown another of her kicks. Truthfully, she was getting a little bored. Okay, so she had to admit, the first few minutes were sort of fun. She had a tad more anger to work off than she anticipated. But now, this just seemed cruel. Chuck had received a lot of punishment already. How long was Sarah going to allow… Suddenly, Carina was laying helpless flat on her back. Chuck had just executed a textbook counter move. He ducked under her kick, and in one swift motion, quicker than any expert, swept her plant leg. Now his forearm was positioned perfectly across Carina's throat. It was a submission position. In a real fight, Carina was in big trouble. In other words she was a candidate to wear a toe tag.

Carina was simply too stunned to speak. So it was Sarah that came running up. "That was perfect," she said. "Chuck, where did that come from?"

Chuck didn't answer, not really. He just reached his arm down to help Carina get to her feet and looked to where Jake and Ellie were still standing.

"Is that guy bothering you?"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie looked around curiously as she entered the room. They had been back to the motel for a while. Sarah had quickly ended the training session after Chuck's victory over Carina, which coincidently had her very red faced. It didn't help that Sarah took the obligatory shot at Carina about her looking so natural flat on her back. But here in the room there was no sign of Chuck. "Dad said that you wanted to see me?" Ellie asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Sarah said. "I just wanted to let you know. Get to sleep early tonight. We have someplace to go tomorrow and we need to leave really early."

"Another training session?" Ellie asked.

"No," Sarah said. "He took far too much punishment today. He can't do that two days in a row. He needs a day to recover. Besides, I think I might have figured something out today. I have a theory I want to test without Chuck knowing. We have something entirely different to do tomorrow."

"Speaking of your fiancé," Ellie said. "Where is he?"

Sarah sighed. "He's really sore from the beating he took today," she said sadly. "He's taking a hot shower. It's funny you would call him that. I guess I'm going to have to stop thinking of him in those terms. He's not going to be my fiancé any more. I really loved calling him my fiancé."

At first, Ellie thought that she was kidding. "Of course, he's your fiancé," she scoffed. "You're engaged."

"Not any more," Sarah sighed. "That is ending."

The color quickly left Ellie's face. "I knew that you were fighting," she said, her voice no more than a whisper. "But, Sarah, come on."

Sarah looked at the tears that were quickly filling her friend's eyes. Suddenly she realized in horror that she was actually taking her teasing seriously. "Oh my God," she said. "Ellie you have it all wrong."

"You're ending your engagement," Ellie said sadly as the first tears began to flow. "I always thought you two were perfect for each other."

Now Sarah was feeling pretty awful. Sure she was teasing. But she never thought Ellie would actually believe her. Now she knew that she had to be careful to not let Ellie think she was laughing at her. "We have to end our engagement," she said. "Now that we're actively trying to have a baby, Chuck is insisting that we get married. So I'm flying us to Vegas tomorrow. We can only take one person with us. That's why I want my best friend. I want you to come with us and be there to see us get married."

Ellie looked numbly as she tried to process what Sarah was saying. "Huh?" was all that would come out.

Sarah would have wanted Ellie there anyway. After all, she was her best friend. And she was also the closest person to Chuck. But plainly, Ellie also needed to get away for a happy day to get her mind off Devon. She was clearly starting to struggle. "Chuck is sort of old fashioned," Sarah said. "He said that he doesn't want our teenager someday doing the math between our anniversary and his birthday. Between you and me, I just think he's a big romantic sap. He knows how badly I want to be married. So he came up with an excuse and went to Dad. Your dad is even incorporating it into the Devon rescue plan. He's going to use it to drive Shaw crazy."

Ellie finally got it. "Oh my God," she said as she sat heavily on the bed and wiped her eyes. "Sarah you just scared me to death."

Sarah playfully punched the arm of the woman who tomorrow at this time would be her sister. "What is wrong with you?" she asked with a grin. "I'm sorry I teased you."

"I know," Ellie sighed. "I'm just worried about Devon. And then I saw you two guys fighting all day. I'm… I'm sorry."

Sarah put her arm around her. "You don't have anything to be sorry about," she said. "We're going to get Devon back for you. Your dad is all over this. But you actually thought we were breaking up because we were arguing a little? Really? I hate to be the one to break it to you… but we argue like that a lot. Come on, Ellie, you're not getting rid of me that easily. If you want to worry about someone breaking up, go talk to Casey and Carina. I give them another two days."

Ellie was clearly embarrassed. So she changed the subject. "You're going to have a baby?" she asked. "When did this happen? I thought that you wanted to wait?"

"This morning," Sarah said. "We sort of compromised. Chuck really wants it."

"Chuck really wants it?" Ellie mocked playfully.

"Okay," Sarah said as she lowered her voice. "Yes, I want it too. But don't tell him. He really thinks I'm giving up something here. That might come in handy someday." Then she lowered her voice even more. "Besides," she whispered with a grin. "The absence of a condom is apparently really motivating him between the sheets. This morning was the best it's ever been. Now I'm curious to find out just how many gears your brother has left in bed anyway."

"Sarah Walker," Ellie groaned as she shielded her eyes with her hand. "I thought that we had an agreement about not telling me any specifics of your sex life."

"Sorry," Sarah said with a smile that simply lit up the room. "I have to tell somebody. It was just too fantastic. That's the price you pay for being my best friend. By the way, you'd better get used to calling me Sarah Bartowski."

"You call him a romantic sap," Ellie said. "But let's face it. It's all you. I've never seen anybody more lovesick."

"I know," Sarah sighed.

"Isn't it great?"

x-x-x-x-x

Misty stood in the bathroom brushing her hair. One good thing about their captivity heading into it's second day was that they had brought them some clean clothes and basic toiletries. Nothing they brought was her particular brand. In fact, it didn't appear to be any brand at all. But at least they could now take a shower and sleep in something other than their underwear. Of course, there was a down side. Someone clearly thought that they were going to be here for a while.

Misty wasn't totally sure that they could completely trust this Bryce guy. But, then again, what choice did they really have? He knew the truth about her. And he also knew enough details that Devon was satisfied he was on the level. One good thing about the current situation, Bryce told them that they could now speak freely. Since they were afraid of any information getting back to the rogue gang that was on the loose, the cameras were turned off. And whoever this mysterious Orion was, he clearly had better control of their technology than they did.

Devon was trying to fill her in on the details of Bryce's story, which apparently had begun about two years ago. Well he was telling her as much as he could anyway. Even he didn't know all that much.

"There is one thing for sure," Misty said with a soft smile as she walked out of the bathroom and sat on the bed. "You have a thing for this Sarah person." Okay, so that was only to try and figure out what had happened between Devon and Bryce today. But teasing Devon was also an added side benefit.

"I don't have a thing for Sarah," Devon immediately protested, but the red that was already well into his face told another story. "Why would you say something like that?"

"I know you," Misty said mockingly with a smile. "After all, we are engaged. I could hear your voice change when you talked about her."

"You sound jealous," Devon said.

"I am jealous," Misty said as her smile broadened into a grin. "Completely jealous. Wait until I meet this Sarah. Is the real Ellie the jealous type?"

"I'm not really sure," Devon said thoughtfully. "I guess that I've never given her any reason to be jealous."

"I'll tell you what," Misty said with a definite sparkle in her eyes. "When we get out of here and I get to actually meet her, I promise to help you find out."

That got them both laughing. "For the record, I don't have a thing for Sarah,"Devon finally said when he could stop laughing. "Yes, she is incredibly pretty. But to tell you the truth, I could never figure out her and Chuck. They were together every day for two years but she never seemed to move to the next level. We were starting to worry that Sarah was going back with her ex. Maybe you caught that moment between us. In fact, I was starting to hope that it would happen. Chuck needed to find someone who would actually care for him. Now I know why it seemed like that. It was all an act."

"Okay, but wait," Misty said. "I'm confused. I thought you just said that Chuck and Sarah were all lovesick on each other?"

"I know," Devon said. "I'm confused too. I've never seen that myself. It's what Ellie says. I guess in Cancun it happened for real. Apparently Ellie plotted to get them together. Her and Cole…"

It was true that Misty hadn't known Devon for very long, but there was something in his voice that told her that something was wrong. "Okay," she said softly. "I was just kidding about you having a thing for Sarah. But please don't try and deny that something is bothering you about what happened in Cancun."

Devon just stared into space for a long time. "I think Ellie has a thing for him," he finally said. "She says that nothing happened."

"That Cole guy?" Misty asked.

He nodded.

Misty slid over to sit next to him on the bed. "Don't you believe her?" she asked.

Devon paused for far longer than Misty anticipated. That alone answered her question far more than his words. "I do," he finally said. "But she admitted that it came really close one night. I don't know what I'll do if she still has doubts. Or maybe he turned her down and I'm second… Look, I know she feels guilty about it. She keeps trying to make it up to me in bed. I really don't want her to feel guilty. But still…"

So now Misty was totally seeing red. His voice breaking like that really got to her. She was so angry that she couldn't even form a response for a long moment. Her former tepid dislike for this Ellie bitch had just sprouted into genuine hatred. Nobody treated the sweetest guy in the world like that.

Misty thought about what she would say to her when they finally met. _Nothing happened, Ellie? Yeah, sure. He probably got bored with you after a couple of weeks in the sack. And then you come back to sure, reliable Devon. You really think that you can make up for something like that with a little sex?_

But she knew that being angry wasn't what Devon needed right now, so she took a deep breath and calmed herself. She gently rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Devon," she said softly with as much soothing tone as she could muster.

"This will all work out."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie wasn't having the best of nights. The understatement was… ridiculous. For one thing it had been a long day watching Chuck and Sarah bicker. Then to think, even for a moment that the unthinkable had happened between them. Okay, so that was always silly. It, more than anything, told her how much she was emotionally on the edge.

She knew that she should be thrilled about getting to go and watch Chuck and Sarah get married tomorrow. And she was sure that when it was actually happening, when she was standing there in Vegas watching them say their vows of love to each other that she would be. After all, their love story was right out of a fairy tale. It was the most romantic thing she had ever heard of. But for right now, she was more than a little jealous. Oh, it had nothing to do with Misty saying that Devon had a thing for Sarah. Ellie knew that it wasn't close to being true. Devon recognized that she was gorgeous, but who wouldn't? He was maybe a little protective of her, but nothing more.

Ellie quickly realized that even being jealous at all was childish. More than that, it was frankly embarrassing. She was nothing but happy for Sarah. She couldn't possibly love her any more than she did. But, damn it, she and Devon had been engaged for months now. She always assumed that she would be the first to get married, that she would be the one to give Dad his first grandchild. Chuck and Sarah had been a couple for a grand total of not quite a month now. And here they were, moving forward with the plan for their life together. Sarah was so happy that her face was glowing. Okay, so she wasn't exactly proud of the thought, but it just didn't seen fair.

But even that was dwarfed by what was happening now. She had to sit there in that dark room, stare at that laptop, and listen to the pain in Devon's voice as he admitted to that slut who was all over him how hurt he really was about the deal with Cole. It was something that he never would have admitted to her face. He clearly hid it to protect her from guilt. And the most horrible thing about it was that he was absolutely right. It was true. She very nearly had done the unthinkable with Cole. In fact, she had walked out of that bathroom in that invisible negligee with every intention of finding out what a wild night of passion with a spy would be like. And the fact that she stopped it before anything really happened was ridiculously small consolation tonight. She had hurt… the most amazing man in the world.

And the very, very worst thing was that she couldn't even talk to him. She couldn't tell him how very, unbelievably sorry she was. She couldn't beg for his forgiveness. She couldn't try and find the words to explain what he meant to her, how she couldn't live without him, how she looked forward to growing old with him and having his babies. She couldn't even offer to do whatever it took to make it right, not that there was anything she could do, except maybe hold him until the hurt faded away.

Ellie had honestly never felt worse in her life. She was so consumed with feeling bad that she didn't even notice that Dad was sitting next to her until he touched her arm.

"It's going to be okay," was all he said.

Ellie was struggling to keep from completely breaking down. "Dad," she said. "I've blown it with him."

Steven didn't say anything for a long moment. He just reached over and rubbed her back. "No, you haven't," he finally said. "Trust me. Eleanor, there are some things that, no matter how hard you try, you just can't blow. I've never met Devon… but I don't have to. I can tell in his voice how much he worships you. Things look bad tonight. I understand that it's hard to watch someone you love hurt. I feel it right now too."

Ellie just looked at him. She opened her mouth to speak but no words would come.

"I know, sweetie," he said softly. "It's going to be okay. Let it out. Things will be better in the morning. I promise."

By anybody's standards Dr. Eleanor Fay Bartowski was a pretty accomplished woman. She had raised herself and her younger brother from the time when most girls were thinking about their first serious boyfriend. Not only did she put herself throughMedicalSchool, she had been valedictorian of both her Undergraduate and Medical School graduating classes. She was the winner of the world renown Wilke Fellowship and most recently, was the youngest to be named section chief in the hospital's history.

You didn't accomplish all those things without a measure of toughness. And Ellie was tough in her own way, the kind of toughness that simply didn't let life get in her way. Since she was a teenager, she had a plan for her life. And she executed that plan without emotion getting in the way. But tonight was different. Tonight Ellie Bartowski did something that she hadn't done since she was ten years old. She cried herself to sleep...

In her father's arms.

x-x-x-x-x


	19. Two Ellies and Three Sarahs

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Two Ellies and Three Sarahs**

x-x-x-x-x

The first few times it happened, it frankly freaked Chuck out a little. But now he had come to expect it. And he had to admit, it wasn't half bad, the first thing to see when you opened your eyes in the morning being the baby blues of the most beautiful girl in the world lying there snuggled into you watching you sleep. "Good morning, beautiful," he said.

And that always led to the very best part of Chuck's day, seeing the blushing smile that would come over her face. Let's face it. Sarah Walker was a CIA agent. It was pretty hard to make her blush. But seemingly every morning Chuck Bartowski could get one out of her.

"Good morning," she said. "Are you feeling better?"

Chuck paused to consider the question as he moved his arm in a circular motion to test. Yes, his shoulders and ribs were still a little sore from yesterday's workout and the million or so blows he had absorbed, but he could at least move. "I am," he said. "That hot oil massage was great, thank you. I'm sorry that I fell asleep on you."

"You're welcome," Sarah said. "It only seems fair, since I was the one who made you stiff in the first place." Then she saw the smirk on his face. "Get your mind out of the gutter," she said with a playful slap. "I heard it as soon as the words were out of my mouth. You know what I mean."

"One thing is for sure," Chuck said in mock serious. "That game you keep wanting to play. The one where we become each other's genies… we really suck at it."

That got them both laughing. "I know," Sarah finally was able to choke out. "It hasn't worked out too well has it? Don't worry. We'll get back to it someday."

"I'm not worried," Chuck said. "Are you ready to become Sarah Bartowski?"

"I am," Sarah said. "Although I have to tell you, it feels like we're already married."

"No way," Chuck teased. "If you think you're getting out of a wedding night performance, you're going to have to come up with a lot better excuse than that."

Sarah slapped his chest playfully. "I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be able to accommodate you," she said. But as they looked at each other, she suddenly got serious. "Chuck, I have to tell you something," she said, her voice no more than a whisper. "I guess I never realized this before but I've been waiting for this day my whole life." Then she paused for a long moment. "We're probably not going to be alone again until we get back here later tonight," she finally said softly. "You already know that I love you. So I just want to make sure that you know how grateful I am to have you. I may not exactly be perfect wife material but I'm going to try my very best to make you happy in any way that I possibly can… and not just in bed or with the wedding night. So I'd appreciate as much patience as you can give me. When I mess up, please know that I'm trying my best. I understand that I bring a lot of baggage to the table."

"I'm finally glad that you are admitting that," Chuck said. "It's been hard dealing with all the baggage." Then his face bloomed into a classic Chuck smile. "Things like speaking ten languages - do you realize how intimidating that is? I'm just getting decent at English."

Even though Sarah was trying to be serious, she couldn't help the soft smile.

"Or how about this?" Chuck continued. "There is the baggage of being a world famous hero that's dedicated her entire life to serving the country. She's protected Presidents and Kings. Now she's protecting me. Do you realize how hard it is to live up to that legacy?"

Sarah's smile grew a bit.

"Or the absolute worst," Chuck said. "There is the baggage of knowing that this incredible person, who is also so beautiful that she should be in movies, loves me so much that she would do absolutely anything for me. If someone so much as banged into my shopping cart at the grocery store, she'd tackle him and beat him within an inch of his life. The poor guy would be scarred for life. He'd never set foot in a grocery store again."

"You're making fun of me," Sarah said with a sigh. "I'm trying to be serious."

Chuck reached over and kissed her. "I'm not making fun of you," he replied. "Well, maybe a little. But only because you're being kind of ridiculous. All that history stuff is just that… history. All that really matters is now. So if you want to be serious, fine. I'm not going to make you a bunch of promises, just a single one. You're the most important thing in my life. Nothing else comes close. And I know that I haven't always acted like that in the past. I've been jealous and insecure and selfish. But that's over. You're going to be number one in every way possible… now, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. I promise. You can count on me."

"Now see," Sarah whispered as she kissed him again. "That's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Chuck smiled.

"Getting all romantic," Sarah said with a soft smile, "turning on all that sweet talk, and getting my motor running so hot and heavy when we don't have time to do anything about it."

"Umm," Chuck said with a soft laugh. "Don't take this as a complaint… but your motor doesn't seem to be all that hard to get running hot and heavy lately. It bodes well for our wedding night later."

"I guess," Sarah said with a fake pout. "I'd just hate to have all that pent up passion come bursting out all at once and overwhelm you or anything. So promise me that you'll pace yourself, okay? I don't want to break your spirit on the first night."

Chuck just laughed. "Don't you worry your pretty little head on my spirit's behalf, missy," he said. "I've been working out."

"I guess that's true," Sarah said as she shared his laugh. "If you survived yesterday morning, you're pretty tough."

Chuck just shook his head. "Yesterday morning was just a warm up," he said. "I've been holding back for our wedding night. I have a gear that you haven't seen yet."

"Oh my," Sarah said. "Maybe I'm the one who won't survive." Then she got serious. "I know that I don't have to say this, but, Chuck, for the record, you can count on me too."

"Let's go get married."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty was lying in bed thinking about the curveball that life had just thrown at her. There was no way in their windowless existence to tell what time it was. She was guessing that it was very early morning, just about sunrise. She had been awake for some time now and wasn't even remotely near the point of being able to go back to sleep. After all, the situation was absolutely surreal. She had been at work, politely minding her own business, when suddenly she's drugged and wakes up in the middle of a life and death struggle to overthrow the freaking United States government.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't as pure as newly fallen snow here. After all, she did think that she was going to turn her very first trick in the process, and a thousand dollar threesome at that. But still, did that little lapse in judgment make her deserving of being drugged and held against her will in, well who knew where in the hell she was? She shouldn't have to apologize for being angry. She had every right to be furious. Who wouldn't be furious in this situation?

So, why wasn't she?

The simple fact of the matter was she was having fun. It sure as hell beat pouring yourself into a barely there halter top and allowing men to gawk at your chest for tips night after night. Misty made herself a promise. No matter what happened, there was one thing for sure. When this was over, she was never going back to that. Actually, she was looking forward to their escape plan.

Okay, maybe she was even looking forward to the show she was going to put on with Bryce Larkin. The hard part about their first session was playing cool. Bryce told her that the real Ellie would be pretty resistant to the situation that he was pretending to put her in, at least at first. What was she, made of ice? Who could resist that smile? And from what she had heard from Devon, resisting super spy's charms wasn't exactly Ellie's strength anyway. But she was able to get through it without appearing too willing. Well she didn't try to rip his clothes off anyway. So that was a job well done.

Devon asked how it went as soon as she was back in the room. And for a moment he almost sounded jealous. Misty was actually trying hard to talk herself into believing that he was jealous. But plainly it was really only concern. Damn.

She had to admit that she was looking forward to joining the gang. Misty had never been part of a gang before. It sounded like fun… in a dangerous, exciting way. She was looking forward to meeting this appliance store nerd who apparently controlled the fate of the free world. She was even looking forward to meeting this Sarah Walker. Could she possibly be as beautiful as they were saying?

Most of all, she was looking forward to meeting the real life Ellie Bartowski. She was really looking forward to that. Okay, so admittedly that was on another level, one more personal. She couldn't wait to tell this bitch what she really thought of her. She wanted to shout to her how she had been given the best gift imaginable, and was pissing it away.

Speaking of that best gift imaginable, Devon had just rolled over and was snuggling up to her. Misty couldn't help the fuzziness that was in her stomach. Oh, she knew full well that this wasn't real. He was clearly dreaming. But still it was electric. Then it happened. His hand started to snake up her nightshirt.

Misty knew that she should stop him. This wasn't fair to him. He was dreaming about his fiancé. He would be embarrassed when he woke up. Not only that, it would put a strain on their relationship. They were just starting to become genuine friends. And this could hurt that. So she decided to wake him up… until his dream caused his hand to find her breast. And at almost the same time, his lips met hers.

_Oh my God_. It was the most electric moment of Misty's life. Sure, she had been in second base necking situations with her fair share of men, but none of those other times had been anything like this. As their tongues danced she was simply paralyzed by the electricity that was flowing between them. So maybe it wasn't her proudest moment, but she simply relaxed and went with it for a while. After all, she was blame free here. She hadn't started any of this. He was kissing her. It was his tongue that had first sought out hers. It was his hand that was gently rubbing her breast.

That's when the thought first popped into her head. _Why couldn't this happen?_ Ellie Bartowski certainly had it coming. If anything this was justice. It would serve her right. And Misty was definitely ready. She was absolutely on fire. She wanted this more than anything that she had ever wanted in her whole life… ever. And maybe, just maybe, she could make it be so good for him that he'd be willing to try it again when they were awake. Devon was certainly giving no indication that he was anything but eager. If he was going for a seduction, he was certainly doing everything right. He was currently sliding his other hand down her stomach, rubbing in small circles. His pace south might have been frustratingly slow… but it was steady. Just as his fingertips were finally sliding under the waistband of her panties he whispered to her.

"I love you, Ellie."

x-x-x-x-x

Part of Orion's plan required Sarah to drop Carina off in St Louis on their way to Vegas. That's why Ellie was the only one who could come and see them get married. There were only four seats in the plane. Casey had driven them to the small airfield where the plane was. His job was to continue driving to Charlotte for his part in Orion's plan.

Sarah knew right away that something was up with Ellie. So when they were on the ground in St Louis, she whispered in Chuck's ear. That's all it took. Actually crawling in the back and taking a nap didn't sound half bad anyway.

As soon as Sarah clicked on the autopilot, she turned to Ellie and grabbed her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

At first Ellie tried to smile it away. "Talk about what?" she asked innocently.

But Sarah refused to let her off the hook. "Are you really going to do that?" she asked. "Are you really going to shut me out like this? Come on, Ellie. Do you think I can't tell? I thought we were best friends?"

Ellie looked at the hurt in Sarah's eyes. "It's not like that," she said. "You know that I would tell you anything. It's just… look, this is your wedding day. You don't need to hear about my problems."

"How about you let me be the judge of that?" Sarah said, not really all that gently. "We have three hours in the air. We're all alone. You can't possibly be worried that Devon is going to cheat on you. You're smarter than that. So what is it?"

Ellie looked back at Chuck. He was either sleeping, or he was putting on a great performance. "Okay," she finally said softly. "I'm worried about Devon, not so much that he's not safe, and certainly not that he might not be faithful."

Sarah was confused, and said so. "What does that leave?" she asked. "I don't unders…"

"I cheated on him," Ellie blurted out. "I cheated on Devon with Cole in Cancun."

Sarah was stunned. "You slept with Cole?" she asked in shock. "When did that happen? Wait until I get my hands on that son of a..."

"Cole is completely blameless here," Ellie sadly interrupted. "Don't get mad at him. Get mad at me. He was clueless. This is totally my fault. It was the night of our mission. After Chuck regained consciousness and I went back to my room. I had to know what I was missing. I had to know what it would be like to stop being prim and proper Ellie Bartowski and just pick out some random hot guy and screw his brains out. Cole was simply the hot guy who was closest at the time. So I put on that negligee and went out and seduced him. I didn't actually have sex with him. But that really doesn't matter, does it? I had every intention of it."

"Of course it matters," Sarah finally said. "That negligee was pretty thin. You say that you didn't have sex. How far did it get?"

"It was totally invisible," Ellie sighed. "We kissed once. It was pretty hot. We both stopped at pretty much the same time."

"Why did you stop?" Sarah asked softly. "It sounds like you wanted something."

"Because I found out what I needed to know," Ellie said. "He was kissing me and I was trying to pretend that he was Devon. That's when I knew. How am I going to ever get him to forgive me?"

Sarah didn't answer Ellie's question. She just stared for a long moment. "I've kissed Cole once too," she finally said. "It was also pretty hot. He wanted me to run off with him to Tahiti. He was really putting on the full court press. That's why Chuck was so sure that Cole and I were… umm… screwing. He told me later that he saw us on the surveillance monitor. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen. But Chuck had just broken up with me and I was pretty vulnerable."

Ellie just stared back at Sarah. "Why didn't you?" she finally asked. "I mean, you kept saying that you didn't see a future with Chuck. And Cole is a very charming man."

"It's funny," Sarah said. "Well, more ironic than funny, but I didn't for the same exact reason as you. I found out what I needed to know. You need to tell Devon exactly that. He'll understand."

"Would Chuck?"

"Trust me," Sarah said with a soft smile. "Chuck has heard about far, far worse things than one silly kiss, no matter how hot it was. Okay, so you had some questions about yourself. It took you two weeks to figure it out. I tortured the sweetest man in the world for two long years. I always kept him on the hook, playing him, giving him just enough to hope that something real might happen someday. It was beyond cruel. I allowed this amazing man to twist in the wind, never really giving him anything of myself while I figured out my own stupid issues. I lied to him… and to myself. I hid behind my rules and my duty when the real reason was I was afraid of being hurt. I'm really ashamed of that. The simple fact is I don't come close to deserving him. And yet if I woke him up back there right now and told him that I needed him to jump out of the plane, he wouldn't look around for a parachute, he'd just do it… without question. Wow, how amazing is that?"

In spite of the emotion Ellie was feeling, she couldn't help the sad smile as she looked back at her love sick brother sleeping in the back seat. It was so clearly true.

Sarah paused for a long moment to blink back her tears and gather her composure. "Look, Ellie," she finally continued. "Devon is a great, great guy who truly loves you. If you needed him to, he'd jump out of the plane just as quickly as Chuck would. You and I both know that's true. Trust him. Tell him the honest truth. Tell him that it wasn't about him or Cole or even sex… it was about you. And you're sorry for hurting him but you found out what you needed to know. Now you'll never question it again. He'll understand. If he's half the man that we both know he is, he'll understand. He may not be crazy about the thing with the negligee… but he'll understand."

Ellie just stared for a long moment as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. Finally she reached out her hand, grabbed Sarah's arm, and nodded with a soft smile. "Sweetie," she said. "You're absolutely right. Thanks."

Sarah couldn't keep the grin off her face. "A little groveling wouldn't hurt," she said in a mock lecture.

"I'm so jealous that you're getting married today," Ellie said as she finally matched Sarah's grin. "You're just so damned happy. I know that's childish. I can't help it."

"It is childish," Sarah agreed as her grin broadened. "Very childish. Just as childish as I'm going to be at your wedding."

"Okay," Ellie said with a laugh. "That actually does make me feel a little better. How about our regular bet on who has the first baby boy? I know you're kinda getting a head start. But I have a good feeling."

"Oh, you're so on," Sarah said.

x-x-x-x-x

Devon's declaration of love popped Misty's euphoria like a balloon. Oh, she was still incredibly aroused. So was he. There was no question about that. But she knew that there was no way to keep pretending. He was dreaming about Ellie. He had no idea that it was Misty who he currently had two handfuls of. And if he did, he would let go like he was holding a hot stove.

Misty sighed as she faced the reality of the situation. Devon was a loyal guy. And he truly loved this Ellie. He would never do anything to cheat on her. She was kidding herself. If she was going to have any kind of relationship with him, it had to be as his friend. So that decision was actually pretty easy. She reached out and gently shook his shoulder. "Devon," she said. "You're dreaming. Wake up."

Devon's reaction was pretty predictable when he opened his eyes and realized the situation. "Oh my god," he said as he looked in horror where his hands were. "I'm so, so sorry."

Misty figured that the best way out of this was to make it a joke. So she grabbed the hand that was currently tangled inside of her shirt. "I think that I want my thousand dollars back," she said with a smile.

Devon was clearly not prepared to pass this off as a joke. "Misty," he said as he finally was able to extricate his hand from her shirt and reclaim it for his own. "I'm so sorry."

Misty was trying her level best to be soothing. "Devon," she said. "You're making way too big of deal out of this. I'm not upset. It was no big deal. Stuff like that happens. You were dreaming."

Devon was sitting on the side of the bed with his head in his hands. "I'm such a jackass," he sighed.

"You're so not a jackass," Misty said firmly. "And I can prove it to you. You're a doctor. You've studied logic. This argument should appeal to you. Tell me, Devon, do you think I'm pretty?"

Pure surprise caused Devon to lift his head. "I'm sorry, Misty," he said. "I can't go there."

"Relax," Misty said. "I'm not coming on to you. Trust me. I think you're so great in almost every way. You're not like any other man I've ever met. If I thought there was any chance of us happening, I'd be more than interested. But there's not. So I'm making a point. Please answer the question. Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Misty," Devon said. "I don't think you're pretty. You're beautiful. So what's your point?"

"So I'm assuming that you wouldn't find sex with me totally repulsive," she said.

"Misty…" Devon started warningly.

"Still making a point, Devon," Misty interrupted firmly. "Trust me. If I ever am coming on to you, I'll leave absolutely no ambiguity. Deal? So, repulsive? Yes? No?"

"No," Devon admitted. "Of course not, it would be anything but repulsive."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Misty said. "And you do realize that if you wanted sex from me that I would be very receptive? I hope that my parading around the room without a shirt has made that much clear at least."

Devon actually smiled, a little. "I am getting that vibe," he said.

"Let's take out the uncertainty," Misty said. "I would be more than willing to participate fully in whatever you wanted. So tell me, why isn't it going to happen?"

"I'm engaged," Devon said. "To someone I love. I can't cheat on her."

"Exactly," Misty said. "So let's sum this up. We have a healthy normal man, in his sexual prime, who is in a situation where he is forced, through no fault of his own, to sleep with a woman who he admits he thinks is beautiful. Thanks for that, by the way. He freely admits that the idea of sex with this woman would be an attractive thought. He just woke up from an incredibly erotic dream and physical evidence suggests that he is extremely physically aroused. He also knows that said woman would be receptive to anything that he might suggest. Yet he won't pursue anything. Why? Because he loves his fiancé and insists that he remain faithful to her. Devon, I'm confused. What part of that scenario says jackass to you anyway? I think I've just described a pretty stand-up guy, one that any woman would love to have. Just what do you think would be Ellie's gripe here anyway? That you dreamed about her? She should be most proud of you. I'll bet that she will be. I know that I would be."

Devon's smile was now plain. "You really need to go back to Law School," he said. "You'd be one hell of a litigator."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Misty said with a grin. "The defense rests."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah Bartowski kissed her new husband, for about the thousandth time in the ten minutes since the wedding chapel guy had stopped rambling on and on about marriage and finally pronounced them husband and wife.

"That went well," Chuck said as they piled into the compact car they had rented at the tiny airport. Between being kissed by his new wife, and being hugged by his new wife's new sister, he had been pretty busy. So he turned to his new wife. "How are you doing? Is it what you expected?"

Kiss thousand and one was his answer. "We have to get away from the immediate area," she said. "We got married under our real names. It won't be long before they come looking for us."

"I have an idea," Chuck said. "Why don't we drive a ways away, find a nice motel with a small casino, and see if your new sister can be as lucky at the slots as your new husband is in the room… if you know what I mean?"

"Yes, Chuck," Sarah said sarcastically as kiss one thousand and two came his way. "I do know what you mean. It wasn't that subtle. And trust me. I'd like nothing more than to consummate our new marriage for the first time and perhaps conceive our first child in a cheap, seedy off-strip motel where you're not exactly sure which you're most afraid of, the sheets or the bedspread. That would be a fun story to tell him on his twelfth birthday, right? Unfortunately, we're on a very tight schedule. We have to fly back to St Louis and pick up Carina."

"But," Chuck protested. "We just got married. And all this kissing."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Sarah said. "I'm just teasing you. Maybe once we're in the air, we can get Ellie to close her eyes and…"

"Forget it," Ellie quickly protested. "That is so not happening."

"Well," Sarah sighed. "I'm afraid that means waiting until we're back. If it's any consolation, I'm just as eager as you are. Besides, we have to collect our wedding present."

"What wedding present?" Chuck asked.

"Well, it's mostly to me," Sarah said with a grin. "But my new father-in-law gave us a wedding present. Maybe it's to make up for that test thing."

"What kind of wedding present?" Chuck asked as he sat and tried to figure out the expression on her face.

Sarah pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. The sparkle in her eyes said very clearly that she was enjoying herself.

"Just listen."

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw was sitting in his office trying to figure out his next move. Unfortunately his options were next to nothing. He hated to admit it, but this Bryce Larkin guy was the only thing that had a glimmer of hope. And even that seemed flaky. But right now if it could get back the intersect, he'd kiss flaky… full on the mouth.

Suddenly a man burst into the office.

"I guess we're not knocking?" Shaw said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said breathlessly. "But Sarah Walker just used a credit card at a Victoria's Secret just outside St Louis."

Shaw snapped alert. Could an agent the quality of Sarah Walker really be that sloppy? But they had been on the run for two weeks now. Maybe they were getting desperate. "Get some people there," he said. "When?"

"Already in route," he replied. "About an hour ago."

Just then another agent stepped into the room. "Sarah Walker just used a credit card at a gun shop in Charlotte," he said.

Shaw's shoulder's sagged. This was now clearly a ruse. "Get some people over there," he said sadly. "We need to check it out."

As he was leaving, another man appeared. "Sarah Walker…"

"Don't tell me," Shaw interrupted. "She used a credit card."

"No, sir," the man replied. "She just married a Charles Bartowski at the wedding chapel at Ballys in Las Vegas."

"When?" Shaw asked.

"About an hour ago," he replied. "We checked the video to see if it was really them. But for some reason, it was blank."

That's when the phone on Shaw's desk rang. "Yes," he said with no trace of humor.

"Hello," said the woman's voice. "I'm looking for an Agent Daniel Shaw."

"Who is this?" Shaw asked, again with no trace of humor.

"That's actually somewhat of a funny story," she said. "I just changed my name about an hour ago. You'll probably know me better by my former name."

"Sarah Walker."

x-x-x-x-x


	20. The Wedding Night

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Wedding Night**

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw's eyes immediately got big as saucers. He waived to his men to start to trace the call. "Agent Walker," he said. "I've been hoping to talk to you."

"I'll bet you have," Sarah said with a derisive laugh. "I guess what they say about you being a poor listener is true. You plainly weren't paying attention. I just said that I changed my name an hour ago. I'm also no longer an agent. Didn't you get my resignation letter?"

Sarah paused for a moment and then continued without waiting for a response. "I sent it to the offices," she said sarcastically. "I considered your more than generous offer. It was a tough choice but I decided that I didn't want to go to Langley and learn how to become your obedient yes-girl. I saw what it did to Agent Watkins, and quite frankly it wasn't all that attractive. So I decided to get married and become my new husband's yes-girl instead. I'm actually getting quite good at it. In fact, as soon as we're done here I intend on finding him and saying yes to him several times. No offense, but I'm pretty sure that I made the right decision."

"Okay, Sarah," Shaw said softly. "Why did you call? I assume your name is still Sarah."

"Actually," Sarah said. "I think I prefer Mrs. Bartowski. Someone overhearing you call me Sarah might mistake us for friends. Imagine their confusion when they see me pump an entire clip into what little is going to be left of your head."

Shaw smiled. "Okay, Mrs. Bartowski," he said. "We'll play it your way for the moment. You sound angry. Can't we talk about this for a minute? We've never met. I'm really not as bad of a guy as you've perhaps heard. I just need the intersect. I really don't necessarily mean you any harm. I'm sure we can come up with some arrangement where we all win. Maybe, instead of emptying a clip into my head, we can become friends."

"Seriously?' Sarah asked with a derisive laugh. "You're seriously trying to charm me, Agent Shaw? Wow, I just have to ask. Did you really have even the tiniest expectation that would actually work? You must truly be in love with your seduction skills. Or maybe you actually think that all blondes are dumb. Or is it that you're desperate and don't have a clue what to do next? Whichever it is, please drop the act. It's insulting… and it's pissing me off. Surely you know enough about me by now to understand that pissing me off is often fatal."

"Look," Shaw said. "Let's calm down. Okay. You don't trust me. Fair enough. Guess what? I don't trust you either. But you have to admit that we both have something to gain by coming to some sort of agreement. You must think so too. Why else would you call me?"

"Let me get this straight," Sarah said. "You're negotiating with me?"

"Perhaps," Shaw said. "I'm not sure that I would classify it as negotiation. I'm open to discussion. If you and the intersect would come in, I can promise you that you'll be treated fairly."

Sarah just laughed. "I don't think so," she said. "Let's face it. You could use my new husband. His skills would come in very handy. But you probably don't really need him. You just can't have him falling into the wrong hands."

"Okay," Shaw said. "I'm listening."

"Let's define some terms," Sarah said. "You keep saying the intersect. That makes it sound like a piece of equipment. In fact, if it was just some piece of equipment, I could probably fairly easily be talked into giving it to you. But that's not true. The intersect is not an it, it's a he. And he is the most amazing man I've ever met. I've been waiting for him my whole life. He makes me feel like a princess in a fairy tale. So I'm never going to let him go. We've agreed to spend the rest of our lives together. We're currently working on starting a family. It's actually a little ironic, Agent Shaw. I just said working, but it's anything but work. So understand something. There is no way in hell that I'm ever going to give him up to someone like you. Be honest. What you really fear is us working with your rivals."

"You're bluffing," Shaw said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Sarah replied crisply. "I agree that I would have to hold my nose. But I'm holding my nose right now talking to you. I would be careful about pushing me too far if I was you. That would almost assuredly be fatal to you and your not so noble plans. Under the right circumstances I might be able to be talked into giving you some assurance that won't happen."

"How?" Shaw asked.

"First, I need something," Sarah said. "Call it a good faith gesture. Something to earn my trust. I need my new sister, her fiancé, and Bryce Larkin."

Shaw couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. "Why Bryce Larkin?"

"It's personal," Sarah said. "There are some things that are strictly professional. This isn't one of them. I'll give you a location to deliver them to. Larkin will need to be alive and secured. I'll let you know the next day where you can pick up his body."

Shaw paused for a moment. Why would she want Bryce Larkin? Suddenly the light bulb went on as he answered his own question. "Let me talk to Mr. Bartowski," he said. "After all, how do I know that you can deliver?"

"He's not here," Sarah said. "Actually, he's not to know that this conversation ever took place. That's a deal breaker. If I get what I want, I can arrange for you to speak with him for a minute."

"You're simply asking for too much," Shaw said. "You've haven't earned any trust from me yet either. I'll tell you what. I'll give you one of those three. Then I get to talk to the intersect, umm… Mr. Bartowski. That seems fair to me. You pick. Which one do you want?"

"If I have to choose, I'll take Larkin," Sarah replied quickly.

Shaw smiled to himself. He was right. She was clearly afraid. She gave in far too easily. That knowledge gave him the upper hand. "He's not here right now," he said. "He's on an assignment. I don't expect him until tomorrow." Just then one of his men poked his head into the room and gave a thumbs up. They were able to trace the call. He handed Shaw a piece of paper with the address where the call was coming from.

"I'll call tomorrow with a location to deliver him to," Sarah said. "And Agent Shaw…"

Shaw's heart sank as he looked at the paper he had just been handed. The address was instantly familiar. It was his residence. "Yes," he said numbly.

"You've probably already guessed that I'm not really in St Louis, Charlotte, Vegas, or at your house for that matter," Sarah said mockingly. "I know that your men probably just told you that I'm waiting for you in your bed. Sorry to disappoint. You need to understand that I have resources available to me that you can't imagine. If you're trying to earn my trust, any attempt to double cross me here would be very, very bad. I imagine that your rivals would offer me quite a bit for our services. And let's face one very simple fact. You don't have a fucking clue where I'm at right now. On the other hand…"

"I know exactly where you live."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was just pulling into the tiny airport when Sarah ended the call. He could tell by the grin on her face that she was very pleased with life in general. "Okay," he said with his own grin. "Care to tell me what just happened?"

"Yeah," Ellie chimed in. "You could have asked for Devon. Why didn't you?"

"There's no way that Shaw would actually give anything up," Sarah said. "It would be a trap no matter what I asked for. And there would be no way to ask for Devon anyway. That would have tipped him off. He fully expected me to ask for Ellie. When I asked for Bryce it got the wheels in his head turning."

"He thinks that you're afraid of Bryce's plan working," Chuck suddenly burst out as his own light bulb turned on.

"That's right," Sarah answered. "Now he's sure to give Bryce anything he needs. Your dad knew that Shaw would think I was trying to fish something out of him. That's how he thinks. We just used that against him."

"Wow," Ellie whispered, more to herself than anybody. "Is Dad really that smart?"

"Well," Sarah said thoughtfully. "I'd have to say the evidence all points to it. Both of his kids are geniuses. He did invent the intersect. And he's been able to evade both the bad guys and the government for twenty years."

"He's been able to make that Shaw dude look like a moron," Ellie added. "Although that honestly is looking less and less impressive the more I find out about him."

"We're about to find out," Chuck said thoughtfully. "That phone call just upped the stakes."

"Come on," Sarah said cheerfully. "Have a little faith in my new Dad here. You two glass-is-half-empty siblings are putting a significant damper on my good mood. That was actually fun. Besides, I just got married an hour ago. Ellie, are you sure we can't talk you into closing your eyes for a bit once we're in the air?"

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce Larkin knocked and poked his head in the door. "You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, Bryce," Shaw said warmly. "Come in. Please sit down. Would you like something to drink?"

Bryce smiled at the change in Shaw's demeanor. "No thank you, sir," he said as he took the offered seat.

"I just talked to Sarah Walker," Shaw said. "She called me. It seems that she doesn't think much of your goading Mr. Bartowski. In fact I would call that somewhat of an understatement."

"I'll bet," Bryce said with a laugh.

"In fact, she asked me for the opportunity to kill you," Shaw said as he shared his laugh. "I imagine that her method would be somewhat less than pleasant. She has a reputation for being quite the hothead. I think that she's afraid that you're going to be successful."

"Yes, sir," Bryce said. "I agree. That's exactly what she's afraid of. She's right. There is no way Bartowski won't sneak off and fight for her. He is entirely too predictable."

"When are we going to be able to close the deal?" Shaw asked. "I can't tell you how anxious I am to get the intersect back into custody."

"I'm thinking one more day," Bryce said with an evil grin. "I'll turn up the heat with his sister this afternoon, maybe even get her to show us some skin… challenge his manhood a bit. I'll bet he calls tomorrow wanting to meet me."

Shaw thought for a moment. "Okay," he finally said. "I guess we can wait for another day. But let's be clear. This has to happen. Everything depends on it."

"I just want to make sure," Bryce said cautiously. "When I get Bartowski back for you, I get first crack at Walker."

"Of course, Bryce," Shaw said with a smile. "That was our agreement. Trust me, get the intersect back for me and you'll be in the driver's seat. Take as many cracks as you'd like. By the way, it's not Walker any more. She apparently married Mr. Bartowski in Vegas a couple of hours ago."

"She didn't actually marry him," Bryce scoffed. "She's just messing with me."

Shaw handed him a sheet of paper. "I'm afraid not," he said. "They got married. This is a copy of their marriage license."

Bryce's shoulders slumped. "Sonofabitch," he mumbled, more to himself than anybody.

Shaw was looking very closely for Bryce's reaction. Thankfully, it was exactly what he wanted to see. "Exactly," he said, clearly enjoying his sport. "I guess that would make this their wedding night. But don't worry. You're going to have the last laugh. Once we have the intersect in custody, she'll do anything and everything to protect him."

"Oh, she'll do anything," Bryce growled through gritted teeth as he held up the paper. "Can I keep this? I can't wait for her to explain this one to me."

"Be my guest," Shaw said. "It sounds like you just got an additional motivation."

"Oh, I'm motivated," Bryce replied. "You can trust me on this one."

"That bitch is going to pay."

x-x-x-x-x

The last month, on whole, had been very good for Sarah, more like a dream really. Oh, there was that very bad week when she and Casey were desperately looking for Chuck with little hope of finding him. But that was more than offset with the night when they were finally reunited. And the two weeks before that in Cancun were filled with great days. They spent an unbelievably romantic night out on the Gulf of Mexico sleeping on a hammock under a billion stars. They necked semi-naked in the surf on a private island. They made love for the first time, and the second, and the twentieth, for that matter. There was also that magical night when they promised each other that they would spend the rest of their lives together. But today dwarfed all those other days put together.

This was by far the happiest day of Sarah's life, for lots of obvious reasons. She was on such a cloud of euphoria that she had to actually give herself a pep talk to concentrate on landing the plane safely in St Louis. Not even Carina doing her best to embarrass her in front of Chuck and Ellie with stories of CAT Squad missions could make a dent in her happy glow. For one thing, all the embarrassing things about those stories involved Zondra and Carina far more than Sarah… and Chuck already knew about all the exceptions. It was true that Ellie was hearing most of this for the first time. But the perpetual red in her face as her mouth fell open in shock over and over again was sort of cute.

The highlight of the day, other than the obvious one of hearing "you may kiss the bride" had to be that Chuck allowed his dad to hug him. Okay, so maybe he didn't hug back all that warmly. But still, it was amazing progress from where they were just yesterday. That was Sarah's first indication that Chuck and Dad would eventually be okay. It made Sarah feel so giddy that she even allowed Carina to take Chuck by the hand and lead him out of earshot, ostensibly to kiss the groom. Naturally she insisted that they stay within sight. Come on, she was giddy, not stupid. But she did make up for Chuck's lack of enthusiasm when Dad hugged her. She hugged back as tightly as she possibly could without hurting him. "Are you coming with us?" Sarah asked. They had all agreed to go out and have a celebratory drink, and perhaps more than one drink, sort of a mini wedding reception.

Steven paused for a long while. "I don't think so," he finally said. "Please don't be offended. I can't tell you how happy I am that you're now officially a member of the family. I just think it's best if I stay here and monitor the situation."

Sarah squeezed a little tighter. "I'm not offended at all," she said. "I know that's not your thing."

"Let me know how things work out tonight," Steven said. "We have a decision to make tomorrow."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty sighed as she sat on the bed. This last session with Bryce had been more intense than the previous one. Okay, he had pulled her aside and warned her that it would be. Sure she knew that it was all an act. Actually, under normal circumstances, she might not have minded putting on a performance with Bryce Larkin. And Misty couldn't claim to be modest about showing her body. But it was still one of the more unpleasant hours she had experienced in recent memory.

Devon clearly picked up on her discomfort, because he was all over her the second she was back in the room. "What happened?" he asked. "You look upset. Did he make you do something?"

Suddenly Misty's bad mood was gone, like your breath on a cold windy day. Devon was concerned about her. How sweet was that? So she made no attempt to hide the smile. "Why, Devon," she said in mock horror. "You actually sound jealous."

Devon clearly wasn't in a mood to be teased. "Not jealous," he quickly corrected. "Just concerned."

But Misty wasn't about to let him off the hook. "Aren't you afraid that this might make you a jackass with Ellie?" she asked with a grin.

Devon still wasn't wild about being teased, but he did relax a bit. "Not really," he said. "You did a better job this morning than you realize. You were right. I don't have to apologize for being concerned about the people that I care about. It doesn't have to be romantic or sexual. We're friends. Close friends. I care about what happens to you. That doesn't necessarily make me a jackass with Ellie. And even if it did… tough. That's something she'll have to learn to deal with."

"I know," Misty said softly. "I was just teasing. Don't worry. The thing with Bryce wasn't that bad. It's sweet that you're concerned. And don't worry about Ellie. I was just teasing about her too."

"I'm not worried about Ellie," Devon said with his first smile. "She'll deal with us being close. Trust me. She owes me that. There are plenty of things in our relationship that I've had to deal with."

"Look at it this way," Misty said. "If it weren't for Ellie, you wouldn't have all this excitement in your life. We're part of a gang that is going to stop an overthrow of the government. Can you believe it?"

"Not really," Devon answered. "It sounds more like a bad movie script."

Suddenly Misty remembered. "Oh," she said as she fished the paper that Bryce had given her out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Speaking of bad movie scripts, it sounds like your question about the love story of that Chuck and Sarah has been answered in the affirmative. They apparently got married today."

Devon intently studied the document. "They got married with their real names," he finally said. "Good for them. I'll bet Ellie was there."

"It's such a romantic story," Misty sighed. "Underachieving nerd wins the heart of the beautiful super spy. Why can't anything like that happen to me?"

"Trust me," Devon replied with a sly grin. "You're turning into a beautiful super spy yourself. Your nerd is out there someplace. As soon as we get out of here, I'm going to help you find him."

Misty knew that she had to ignore the fuzziness in her stomach from him calling her beautiful for the second time today. They just couldn't go there. So she simply narrowed her eyes. "Underachieving Nerd?" she asked semi-sarcastically. "If you're going to fix me up with someone, you couldn't at least pick me out one of your cute doctor friends?"

Devon just laughed. "Maybe," he said. "Although playing cupid is more Ellie's thing."

"Great," Misty sighed. "I'm sure that Ellie will be real eager to fix me up with one of your doctor friends."

"I'll just die alone."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were on the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple. To tell the truth, it wasn't what either one ever imagined for their bridal dance. They were at the same redneck bar as the other night. Neither being a Country Music fan, they didn't even know the song that was playing. For the record, it took Carina to document that their first dance was to Collide by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. It wasn't exactly a classic wedding night song. And that was actually okay… because quite frankly, neither one was paying much attention to it anyway.

It had been quite the busy day, flying all the way to Vegas, getting married, following Dad's mission instructions, and flying all the way back. It took a while for the adrenalin and quite honestly, the euphoria to wear off enough to be able to think rationally. Finally what had happened today hit them almost at the exactly same time. "Oh my God," Sarah said with a grin. "We're married."

"I know," Chuck said with his own grin. "It took a while to sink in, huh? Sorry, there's no way for you to back out now."

"I have no interest in backing out," Sarah said. "What did Carina want to talk to you about anyway? Was she trying to get you to open your mouth for her groom kiss?"

"Becoming the jealous wife already?" Chuck answered with a laugh. "You have nothing to worry about. There is no way that I'm opening my mouth with Carina. I know where her mouth has been."

"That's good to know," Sarah said. "And, quite frankly, a little disturbing. Trust me, sweetie. You don't know where her mouth has been. Trust me again. You made the right choice."

"She just wanted to warn me to never hurt you," Chuck said with another laugh as he finally got serious enough to answer her question. "She told me that she had never seen you like this, that you were vulnerable, that she loved you, and if I ever hurt you I'd never be dead enough. It was nice. It was also a little disturbing."

"Really," Sarah asked. "She said that? What did you say?"

"I told her that I would never hurt you," Chuck said. "And if I ever did, I deserved to be dead."

"That was sweet," Sarah said. Then she paused for a long moment. "I have something that I want to ask you," she finally said. "I wanted to wait until we actually were married."

Chuck's eyes told her to continue.

"The Intersect," Sarah softly continued. "Is that still something that you want to do? Training is hard. It got a little tense yesterday. If I'm going to get you ready to be an effective weapon, I'm going to have to push you. I have to know what the intersect can and can't do. I'm going to have to make you do some things that you don't want to do. I'm going to have to put you in some unpleasant circumstances. I might even have to fool you and test you. A man shouldn't have to accept that from his wife. I just want to make sure we're going to be okay with that."

"You're not going to sleep with anyone, are you?" Chuck said with a laugh. He could instantly tell by her face that he had said the wrong thing. So he drew her close. "Sarah," he said. "I was just teasing."

Sarah paused a long while. "I know," she finally said. "I understand that you were just teasing. I'm sorry that I got all sensitive. Don't feel bad. You didn't do anything wrong. Look, it's just that particular topic is a sore point with me. I'm not at a point where I can joke about it. I probably never will be. I want you to know. You never, ever, ever have to worry about that."

"I don't worry about that… at all," Chuck said. "I thought we were past that. Why do you think I could tease you about it? I'm sorry, it was very insensitive. I won't do it again. Please don't let it spoil this night, okay?"

That got her smile back. "Nothing could spoil this night," she said.

"I agree," Chuck said. "And as far as the intersect, do your worst. If it gets to be too hard, we'll talk."

"Okay," Sarah said. "Speaking of spoiling the night, you do realize that Casey and Carina are going to try and get us both sloppy drunk tonight?"

"Yeah," Chuck said with his own grin. "I sort of figured that out when they started ordering shots of tequila. Won't those two ever give up trying to spoil our wedding night?"

"Sweetie," Sarah said with a sigh.

"I'm afraid you have no idea."

x-x-x-x-x


	21. The Honeymoon

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Honeymoon**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck quickly found that he was actually the far busier of the two newlyweds on the dance floor. After all, Carina loved to dance even more than Sarah did, and that was saying something. Ellie didn't mind dancing, but her brother wasn't exactly her dream dance partner, even more so than usual for siblings. It apparently was a holdover from when they were kids and she was trying to get him ready for his first school dance. That's as much of the story as Sarah could get out of either one of them tonight anyway. She made a mental note to ask Ellie more about it sometime when they were alone… and drinking. It sounded like a cute and potentially embarrassing story that she could use to tease her new husband with.

The core problem was that Casey would rather do almost anything except dance. Oh, he knew that he had to dance once with the bride. Given the situation there was no way out of that. But as it turned out, it was uncomfortable enough for both of them that neither was really all that eager for a repeat performance… ever. And even that wasn't as uncomfortable as when he was forced by Carina and Ellie's goading to finally kiss the bride. It was very possibly the shortest and most chaste kiss of Sarah's life. Casey also knew that he would have to dance once with the woman who he was currently sleeping with. There was surely no way out of that one, right? And to his credit, he didn't want Ellie to feel completely left out, so he did take her out on the floor for a spin. That raised his already growing position in Ellie's mind several points.

But that left poor Chuck as the only available male dance partner. Well, that wasn't exactly true. They were surrounded by locals, many of which had their tongues hanging out. But that would just cause more problems than it solved. So Chuck quickly found himself caught between two women who loved to dance, were very competitive, and in top physical shape. Okay, so he had married one of them a little over ten hours ago. But that didn't seem to matter much on the dance floor. As expected, they garnered quite the attention from the locals. After all, they were both incredibly beautiful woman who became even more beautiful shaking their umm… assets on the dance floor.

Finally Chuck was tired and quite frankly looking for a breather. So it was actually a relief when Sarah told him that she had left her purse in the van and asked him to go get it for her. Naturally, he had to endure the obligatory shot from Casey about being a henpecked husband after only being married for ten hours.

The cool night air actually felt great. Finding the purse wasn't hard. It was exactly where Sarah said it would be. Still, it was odd for Sarah to forget something like that. That wasn't like her at all. But maybe it was just wedding excitement. Chuck had to admit, he was pretty excited as well.

On his way back inside, Chuck found his path was blocked by a fairly large… well, gentleman. "Excuse me," he said.

"Nice purse," was the response from the man. "Do you carry your makeup in it?"

Okay, so the last thing that Chuck was looking for tonight was any trouble with some guy with more muscles than brains who had a few drinks and was now looking for a fight. That would just be stupid. So the best way out of this would be to make it a joke. "Oh, this old thing," he said with a laugh. "No, this is my wife's."

But the man didn't smile, or move out of the way for that matter. "Why would you think that you can come into our place with your high priced call girls and make fun of us?" the man sneered. "That seems pretty stupid… for some pussy who carries a purse."

Chuck bristled at the suggestion that his new wife was a call girl, of any price range. But then he suddenly looked around and saw that the man was not alone. There looked to be about ten of them that were quickly surrounding him. And based upon appearances alone, their aggregate IQ seemed to be the low eight hundreds. He was starting to get a very bad feeling about this. "Look," he said with as genuine of a smile as he could muster. "I'm not looking for any trouble. I just got married today. I don't know who you think is making fun of you, but I just want to get back inside."

"Well, boy," the man replied. "It looks like this ain't your day."

Chuck wasn't much of a fighter. And that was quite the understatement. He could plainly see the punch coming. Actually it sort of looked like it was in slow motion. He just couldn't do anything to completely avoid it. It impacted him in the stomach. The blow doubled him over in pain.

It was at that point when Sarah, who was clearly wondering what was taking him so long, came looking for him. Naturally, she reacted as you might expect when she watched someone hit Chuck. One big redneck person suddenly found himself lying on the ground courtesy of a Sarah Walker… err… Sarah Bartowski kick to the head. Unfortunately there were more men there than even Sarah could consider fighting. Two of them quickly grabbed her.

The man rolled on the ground in pain for a long moment. "Sonofabitch," he mumbled as he finally picked himself off the ground rubbing his jaw. "That was a fine kick you just threw, little lady. Let's see how well you take one." Then he very clearly checked her out. After all, she was quite the vision standing there struggling to free herself from his two very large friend's not so gentle grasp. His eyes went from the top of her head to her toes and back again, pausing on both trips to gawk at her chest. "It seems like a shame to mess up that pretty face. Although the rest of you ain't bad either. Maybe we can work out some other deal."

Suddenly good ole boys were hitting the ground in every direction. Most of them never saw the blows coming. The couple who did see still had no chance. Chuck was moving faster than any man possibly could. There was no chance for any of them to begin to avoid any of his kicks or punches. Quickly nine very large rednecks were lying on the ground in various states of unconsciousness. The two that had been holding Sarah were the last two to hit the ground. They were actually out on their feet. As soon as Sarah took a step away from them, they fell together in a heap.

Sarah faced the lone original man that had just threatened her with a grin that simply lit up the dark parking lot and conspicuously looked around at the carnage Chuck had just wreaked on his friends. "Thanks for calling me pretty," she said sarcastically. "That was sweet. It seems like all of your buddies here decided to take a nap. Now, what were you saying again about seeing how I could take a punch?"

The man looked around in shock at his nine buddies lying on the ground. One or two were moaning, one even looked to be mindlessly struggling to get to his feet, but most were clearly out cold. So he did the only thing he could do, he turned and ran. Unfortunately for him, he ran directly into a Casey overhand right that had him quickly on his knees. Carina's savage kick to the side of his head mercifully ended his night.

Ellie was actually the one who was the most animated. She ran directly to Sarah. "You were right," she said with a grin. "You're Chuck's stimulus. When he perceived you were in danger it kicked in. That was amazing. Dad's invention really works. He's a total bad ass."

Sarah's grin was threatening to break her face. "I know," she said. "When he was being punched, there was nothing. But when he thought I was in danger he became absolutely lethal. Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah," Ellie said in a mocking tone. "Of course. It means he's lovesick. Gloat about it much?"

Sarah had to laugh at the mock disgust on her new sister's face. "It does mean that," she agreed. "But it also means that we are now a virtually unstoppable team." Then she turned to Chuck. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Chuck was still looking at his hands in shock. "That was awesome," was all he could say.

"It was beyond awesome," Casey agreed. "I've never seen anything close to that. They simply had no defense against it. There could have been twenty of them and it wouldn't have mattered. So, I guess that's settled. Do you want to go back inside?"

"I don't think so," Sarah said with her grin still intact. "We found out what we wanted to know tonight. Let's go home and let me get in some practice."

"Practice?" Casey asked. Of course, he regretted the words before they were totally out of his mouth.

"Of course," Sarah said. "I have to practice being Chuck's stimulus. I have an entirely different technique in mind for later. After all, this is our wedding night."

It was a tie between Casey and Carina over who groaned the loudest. "Come on, big guy," Carina sighed. "I guess that Sarah's not the only one who can be a stimulus."

That got Ellie going. "Seriously?" she asked. "Does everybody really have to flaunt this in my face? We really need to get Devon back."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally Chuck insisted on carrying his bride over the threshold. Okay, so it was a crummy motel room. Still, it was one of those things that he had always dreamt about. Of course, in his dreams the bride was wearing a white wedding dress. But even in his wildest dreams he never imagined that the bride he would be carrying would be as beautiful as the one in his arms. Speaking of that bride, she was currently in the bathroom getting ready for bed. "You tested me?" Chuck asked through the open door. "On our wedding night? How did you set that up?"

"Casey did," Sarah replied. "It was easy. All he had to do was buy a couple of good ole boys a drink while we were dancing and tell them that you were drunk and making fun of them. Their reaction was pretty predictable."

"Weren't you taking quite a chance?" Chuck asked.

"Not really," Sarah said softly. "That's exactly what I was asking you on the dance floor. If you want to be the intersect and face The Ring, we don't have much time to get you in shape. Besides, Casey, Carina, and I were watching the whole thing. We wouldn't have allowed anything bad to happen. But you clearly didn't need any help. Let's wait and talk more about what this means tomorrow. We have more important things to deal with tonight."

Then she stepped out of the bathroom. She was wearing a stunning red negligee. It wasn't exactly transparent, but the way it clung to Sarah's soft curves didn't really hide anything either. It was the sexiest thing that Chuck had ever seen.

"I take by your mouth hanging open that you approve?" Sarah said with a grin.

"Wow," Chuck finally was able to find his voice enough to choke out. "Where did you get that?"

"Why do you think that Carina went to Victoria's Secret today?" Sarah asked. "Of course she probably bought herself about twenty things as well. You still haven't said if you like it."

"It's amazing," Chuck said as Sarah slid into bed beside him and turned out the light. "It's so amazing that it seems like a crime to take it off."

"Well, you are on the run from the government," Sarah whispered as her lips met his. "That's pretty close to being a criminal."

Their tongues danced for a long moment. Finally Chuck broke the kiss. "You're so beautiful," he whispered. "I love you so much. I still can't believe we're actually married. That someone as amazing as you would…"

"Chuck," Sarah interrupted with a kiss. "Sweetie, I love hearing how much you love me and how I'm amazing and all that other stuff. I really do. It really helps me. Sometimes I don't feel so amazing. I'll never get tired of hearing you say it. But right now, I really need you to stop talking and get a lot more action oriented."

Chuck had never heard the tremor that was currently in her voice. "Wow," he said. "You're really on fire. I've never seen you like this."

"I've never felt this way before," Sarah whispered between kisses. "I didn't think it was possible. I mean, I've been on fire all day… but then watching that fight. I mean fights always get me going anyway… and you were amazing. But especially knowing that you did it all for me. So please…"

"We'd better put out that fire," Chuck said with a grin. "This is a non-smoking room. We'll lose our deposit."

"Chuck," Sarah whispered, this time with a bit of an edge. "I need you. Please, don't make me beg."

"I'm sorry," Chuck said quickly. "I'll stop teasing you. But we do have all night you know?"

"No," Sarah whispered with a kiss. "We don't have all night. We have the rest of our lives. But that doesn't mean I still don't want you to hurry."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Bartowski," Chuck said as soon as the long kiss broke. "I'm all over this one. Quick sex is actually my specialty."

In spite of her mood, Sarah couldn't keep in the giggle.

Chuck smiled as he reached down and lifted the hem of her negligee. Sarah quickly lifted her arms to allow him to pull it over her head and toss it aside. "It's amazing," Chuck repeated for the third time as he looked at his beautiful new wife of ten hours lying there waiting for him, trembling with desire.

"And they say that crime doesn't pay."

x-x-x-x-x

Of course the Vice President of the United States was a politician. You didn't get to be elected to that high of an office unless you were one of the very best. And the first thing that you learned as a politician was that you needed to become an expert at getting disturbing news and still keep a pleasant half smile on your face. It became almost automatic. Of course, Daniel Shaw wasn't at all fooled by the calm expression on his face in the least.

"I sure hope for your sake that you have some good news for once," he said with no hint of any humor.

"Actually," Shaw said. "I do."

"Good," he sighed. "Finally. When did you capture him? Did he put up any resistance? We can't have anything in the press."

"We actually don't have him… yet," Shaw said cautiously. "But we're close. We have him in a corner. I actually talked to one of his ex-handlers this afternoon."

"How close?" he asked skeptically. "I've heard that one before. Which handler?"

"We're thinking tomorrow," Shaw replied with his first genuine smile. "It was the woman."

"Sarah Walker?"

"Yes, sir," Shaw replied. "But actually, they apparently got married yesterday. So now it's Sarah Bartowski. It's a sign of how desperate they are. She would never have called me if she thought she had any other choice. They are on the run and desperate. We're closing in. She knows that it's only a matter of time. She is starting to negotiate."

"Perhaps the problem is that she doesn't trust you," he said thoughtfully.

"No, sir,' Shaw replied with a humorless laugh. "She definitely doesn't trust me."

"I was hoping to not get personally involved," he sighed. "But perhaps we can arrange to speak. Maybe that might make a difference."

"Yes, sir," Shaw said.

"Keep me posted," he replied briskly. "I don't have to tell you that the G6 meetings start in three days. The President is leaving for London Thursday. All of our plans are predicated on him not making it back. Who knows when we'll get another opportunity like this?"

"Yes, sir," Shaw said. "Don't worry. All of our troubles will be over tomorrow."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally when Chuck opened his eyes Sarah was looking at him as she always seemed to be. "Good morning beautiful," was his typical morning greeting. "Did we put your fire out sufficiently last night?"

Sarah leaned in for a kiss and then snuggled against his chest and sighed contentedly. "We put it out several times," she answered. "But the damn thing just keeps lighting again. It's just going to have to burn for a while. I'm too exhausted to do anything about it now."

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked in mock horror. "I thought that you said anytime, anyplace?"

Sarah's head popped up. "Okay," she quickly said. "That sounds good. I was just trying to take it easy on you. After all, you did make quite the effort last night and this morning. But if you're ready, let's go."

Chuck just laughed. "You win," he said. "You called my bluff. Can we just lie here for a while?"

"Remember," Sarah said with a wicked smile. "Don't ask for things from me that you don't really want."

Chuck, more to change the subject than anything, rubbed her back. "That reminds me," he said. "What were you and Carina talking about outside the van last night? It looked a little heated."

Sarah's face instantly turned a deep red. "It was," she said. "We sort of got into it. Casey had to pull us apart."

"Really?" Chuck asked. "What about?"

"You," Sarah said shyly. "Look, I'm trying not to be a jealous, possessive wife. I know that I make fun of you about being jealous all the time. I even told you that you were never less attractive to me then when you were acting jealous. So that makes me the worst kind of hypocrite. I understand that. It's just that fights turn Carina on too. Well, actually the wind blowing turns Carina on. Anyway, she sort of might have innocently let slip something about how sexy you were knocking around those ten guys. She might have even mentioned how nice your ass looked. Well, self control isn't one of Carina's many strengths. I've told her all of this before. I just wanted to remind her how bad it would be for her to try anything with you. I want to make sure that you know it as well."

Chuck was shocked. "Sarah," he said. "You know that I would never…"

"I know," Sarah quickly interrupted. "Chuck, I'm sorry that I said it like that. I wasn't inferring anything. Please don't get mad at me. I'm not worried about you at all. Yes, it's silly. Yes, I'm a total hypocrite. It's just that Carina has a different view of sex than you or I do. She might do something someday and honestly not realize that she's crossing the line. And you have a tendency to make those kinds of things a joke. I just wanted to make sure you understand that I'm pretty sensitive to that thought. I'm probably never going to see the humor in any teasing from you about it. And I've been known to be a little fiery. So it's only fair…"

"Understood," Chuck said. "Trust me. I get it. You gave me a pass about being jealous of Bryce. You let me pout and act like a big baby and never once held it against me. I really appreciated your understanding about that. So I promise I'll never do anything to make you nervous about Carina. It'll be the easiest promise to keep that I've ever made. She scares me."

"I'm not sure that you totally understand," Sarah said with a sad smile. "Asking for a pass on Carina wouldn't really make me a hypocrite. After all, I did give you one for Bryce. What makes me a hypocrite is when I include Jill, and Lou, and basically every other woman in the world… forever… in every possible circumstance. I'll freely admit that I'm not very proud of feeling that possessive. It's embarrassing. I'm not even sure where it's coming from. I know it's a tad childish. But I do feel that way and it's probably not going to change anytime soon. You're my guy, and everybody else can just keep the hell away. I know, given our history and the things that a spy has to do sometimes, that's not exactly fair, but I've been told that wives don't always have to be fair."

"Let me get this straight," Chuck said. "I have to accept you flirting with other men on missions, but I can never flirt with another woman, even on a mission?"

"Pretty much," Sarah said. "Like I said, I understand the innate unfairness of my position. I promise to be very sensitive to limit anything I do with another man to the absolute barest minimum. But, yes, I would appreciate it if I never had to see any of that from you. So are we good?"

"Yes, Sarah," Chuck said as he shared her smile. "We're good. I'll never do anything to make you nervous about Carina, Jill, Lou… or any other woman in the world. Are you happy?"

Sarah snuggled back into his chest. "Now see," she sighed. "You're such a good husband."

Unfortunately their relaxing time was short lived. Because there quickly came a knock at the door, tentative at first, but then firmer. "Ignore it," Sarah sighed. "Maybe they'll go away."

No such luck. "Chuck," Ellie's voice came through the door. "Sarah."

Sarah pulled the sheet over her head. "Go away," she shouted. "We're on our one day honeymoon."

Again, no such luck. "I'm sorry," Ellie said as she popped her head cautiously in the door. "Dad sent me over here to get you. It is actually almost noon. You guys do realize that you can't stay in bed forever, even on your honeymoon?"

"Do you think that we could go on a real honeymoon when this is over?" Chuck asked wistfully. "Maybe back to that resort in Cancun, but without Ellie this time?"

"I'd like that," Sarah smiled. "I really want to sleep out on the Gulf again. That was so romantic."

"Umm, guys," Ellie said nervously. "I hate to interrupt. But dad is waiting."

Sarah didn't take the sheet off her head. "I know that she's your sister," she told Chuck with a deep sigh. "And we both love her like crazy but hand me my gun and I'll shoot her."

Ellie laughed. "Well, I guess you're really going to want to shoot me after you hear this," she said.

That got Sarah to take the sheet down from over her head and look at her sister curiously.

"Bryce just pulled the trigger," Ellie said. "Dad wants you two to hurry up and get over there."

"It's time for Sarah to surrender to Daniel Shaw."

x-x-x-x-x


	22. Deal With the Devil

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Deal With the Devil**

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah was sitting on Shaw's desk talking to him when there was a knock on the door. Bryce poked his head in cautiously. "Excuse me, sir," he said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course, Bryce," Shaw said cheerfully. "Please come in. You remember Hannah?"

Bryce smiled at Hannah. "Of course," he said. When he turned back to Shaw, his smile turned into a broad grin. "Our plan worked. Bartowski just contacted me. He wants to meet. He'll meet me in exchange for his sister and her fiancé."

Shaw's smile grew. "Excellent," he exclaimed as he slapped his hands together. "What is he proposing?"

"He wants to meet in the Northwest corner of the Grand Mall parking lot at ten tonight," Bryce said. "He wants me to come alone and bring the two prisoners. Once he's confident that I'm alone and the prisoners are safe, he'll reveal himself."

"Do you think he's legit?" Shaw asked. "This could be a scam. Bartowski might have something up his sleeve."

Bryce considered the question. "It's not impossible," he said. "But it's not likely either. Bartowski is not a deceptive person by nature. In fact, his main weakness is that he's far too trusting. This would seem like an honest trade to him. He saves his sister, and gets his shot at me."

"We need to send some men," Shaw said. "How many?"

"That's a very open area," Bryce said. "It will be totally deserted at ten. Bartowski clearly picked it and the time for that very reason. He'll be looking for any sign of a trap. I'm thinking five should be okay. Even if Walker and Casey were there, five men should be more than enough to handle it."

"I was thinking more like twenty," Shaw said. "Better safe than sorry."

"We can't tip him off," Bryce said. "He's clearly too smart to be there waiting for me. He's almost assuredly going to be monitoring the situation from a hidden location. He's certainly doing this without Walker's knowledge. If he smells a trap, he'll run. Walker clearly already fears he might pull something like this. If he goes back to her and admits it, she'll make sure that we'll never get him in this position again."

"Let's split the difference," Shaw said. "Ten men can hang back. I don't have to remind you how important this is, but I'm going to anyway."

"Yes, sir," Bryce said as he opened the door. "Ten should work. Don't worry. I'm all over this. I want him as badly as you do. He's my ticket to… well, satisfaction."

As soon as Bryce left the room, Shaw turned to Hannah. "What do you think?" he asked.

Hannah was a little surprised and frankly more than a little impressed that Shaw would honestly ask for her opinion, especially on such an important issue. Maybe things were changing between them. "It could be a setup," she said thoughtfully. "But what do we have to lose? Larkin? The two doctors? They're pains in the ass anyway. And we have everything to gain."

"I don't know," Shaw said. "This just doesn't make sense. Why would Walker risk so much? She must know that this is a trap."

"Maybe she isn't totally in charge of the situation," Hannah said. "Trust me on this one. Bartowski has a mind of his own. Even if it is a setup, ten of our men should be able to handle two agents. We almost caught them in Vegas with fewer men."

"This time we'll be ready for them."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck almost had Sarah convinced that taking a shower together would save some time… almost. Unfortunately, Ellie was clearly not going to leave them alone until they got moving. Apparently Dad was in quite the hurry.

Sarah's hair was still more than a little damp when they stepped into Dad's room.

"Finally," Casey said with a smirk. "Are you two going to sleep your life away?"

Carina stepped up with a big grin. "Actually, big guy," she said. "I seriously doubt they were sleeping."

Steven ignored the clear attempt at poking fun at the newlyweds. "Okay," he said. "This is it. Are we ready?"

It was Casey who answered. "Yes, sir," he said. "A hundred percent."

"Good," Steven said. "Major, will you and Carina take Chuck next door and brief him on the new tranq guns? Sarah, I have some new intel that I'd like to discuss with you."

"Yes, sir," Casey replied.

As soon as they left the room, Steven turned to Sarah. "Okay," he sighed. "Sarah, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that you're up. Do you know what to do?"

Sarah returned his sigh. "I do," she said. "Total surrender."

"But not too quickly," Steven cautioned. "I know that this is distasteful but he has to think that he caught you in a bluff. He's really going to push you. You're going to have to… give in to him a bit."

"I know," Sarah said. "Don't worry about me. I just hate keeping this from Chuck."

Ellie stepped up. "I know you do, sweetie," she said soothingly. "It's just for a minute. Don't worry about Chuck. I'll take care of him."

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah was just getting ready to reward Shaw for asking her opinion when the phone on his desk rang. "Yes," he said as he pushed the speakerphone button.

"Agent Shaw," said the woman's voice. "This is Sarah Bartowski. I'm calling back as we agreed. When can I expect to collect Bryce Larkin?"

"Hello, Sarah," Shaw said in a condescending tone. "It's so nice to talk to you again. I'm afraid that Agent Larkin's assignment has taken a little longer than anticipated. He's still not available."

There was a long silence. "We had a deal," Sarah said in a soft but cold voice.

Shaw stared at the phone for a moment. Why did she want this so badly? He sensed that he now had the upper hand… and that they both knew it. Maybe he could fish her out. "These are circumstances beyond my control," he said dismissively with a wink towards Hannah. "I'll tell you what. If you let me talk to your husband for just a second, I'll see if I can have someone round Agent Larkin up quickly for you."

There was even a longer pause. "That's not going to be possible," Sarah said. "What else can we work out?"

Shaw's eyes widened as it because crystal clear… she doesn't know where Bartowski is. He ran off to meet Larkin without telling her. It was now obvious that she was completely bluffing. She was asking to negotiate. So he pushed the mute button. "Let's see how far I can push her," he said with a smile towards Hannah. Then he pushed the mute button again. "I don't know, Sarah," he said innocently. "What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know," Sarah said. "You said yesterday that it was in both of our best interests to work something out. Maybe you're right. You must understand by now what I can and can't give up. You said that we would be treated fairly. I have some basic things that we would have to start with. We would have to be allowed to stay together as a married couple, live as normal of a life as possible, and raise our family. If you could guarantee me that somehow, I might be able to… compromise in other areas."

Shaw could hardly believe his ears. That was as close to a surrender as he could expect. He tried hard but really couldn't keep the smirk out of his voice. But then again, what did it hurt? They both knew who had won. "Of course, Sarah," he said. "I really hold you no ill will. If you would encourage Mr. Bartowski to cooperate, I'm sure that we could work something out. Naturally, I also have some basic things that we're going to have to start off with. I'll need your assurance that you're going to make sure that your new husband uses his skills whenever it's requested, no matter how distasteful he might find it."

"You're going to make him help in tracking down the resistance," Sarah said sadly. "He's going to hate doing that. These are good, loyal people who just find themselves in a bad circumstance."

"You know how important it is to follow orders without question," Shaw said. "Why do you think I'm willing to offer you any deal at all? You're the one person who could probably talk him into anything. Quite frankly, that's the only reason why I'm even considering this. You could become an asset. It's the only real leverage that you have with me. I'd suggest that you embrace it."

Sarah paused for a long moment. "Fine," she finally said. "I guess I can hold my nose. I'm not too wild about manipulating him. But if it keeps him safe… How are we going to proceed?"

Shaw was now sure that he had the upper hand. It was time to have some fun. "Actually, there is something more," he said. "I'm going to need something from you. I think that loyalty is probably out of the question in this situation. Lacking loyalty, obedience will have to suffice. If you want me to help get you back in good graces with the agency, I need proof of your obedience."

"I'm not going to Langley," Sarah quickly said. "That's off the table."

"Actually, I agree," Shaw said. "That would be a waste of time and resources. Why would we bother retraining you? You're never going to go into the field again. Besides, we need you controlling the intersect for us. But surely you realize that your actions of the past couple of weeks have called your judgment into question. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't personally offended. You have some serious fences to mend. Don't worry. I'm not asking for much, certainly nothing that you haven't done before in service to your country. You may even come to enjoy it."

Sarah glared into the phone. It was hard to listen to the arrogance in his voice. It was clear what he was demanding. "I sincerely doubt that," she finally said softly. "Don't flatter yourself, Agent Shaw. Let's get one thing straight. Any task that I might be willing to perform to make this agreement work has to happen without Chuck's knowledge, ever. That's an absolute deal breaker. If he ever gets hurt because of this, I'm going on the warpath. Unless we can agree to that, let's end this right now."

"You're asking for a lot," Shaw said. "I hope that you're willing to give up a lot in return. You're the master at deception. If you want my help in keeping him in the dark that will have a price. I'll tell you what. It's hard to talk over the phone. Why don't we meet? We'll talk about this in more specificity professional to professional. But also, maybe we can work on our personal relationship. I'm sure that we can find some place private to come to some sort of understanding without your husband knowing. Say nine o'clock?"

There was a very long pause. "Fine," Sarah finally said very coolly. "I'll meet you tonight at nine in the lobby of the Brookshire Hotel. There will be instructions waiting for you at the front desk. You are to come alone. I'll be watching from a secure location. If I get even the slightest whiff of a trap, I'm coming out guns blazing."

"I've got an idea," Shaw said. "Let's be honest with each other and put some cards on the table here. You're not going to come alone. I'm sure that Agent Casey is going to be in the general vicinity. Why don't I bring Hannah and we'll make it a double date?"

"Actually," Sarah said. "I think that Agent Casey will remain hidden in his sniper position with your left ear in his crosshairs. I wasn't kidding about the guns blazing."

Shaw stopped the giggling from Hannah with a look. "And I wasn't kidding about the double date," he said. "I have no reason to try anything hostile tonight. After all, we're both getting what we want. Once Agent Casey is comfortable that we've come alone, Hannah can keep him company while we find our private place to… talk. She can pretend to enjoy entertaining him just as you'll pretend to enjoy entertaining me. Just so that we understand each other, I expect that you will dial down your rancor several notches. I'm offering you a deal that is far more generous than you have any right to expect. It has an expiration date. Your hot button is keeping this secret from your husband. Mine is respect. If this conversation is to go any further, I expect to be addressed with the appropriate respect. Is that clear?"

Sarah paused for a long moment. "Yes, sir," she finally said.

Shaw looked at Hannah's jaw hanging open. Truthfully he was surprised at how far she was willing to go. She obviously realized that her only hope was to negotiate the best deal she could before they had Bartowski back and she lost all leverage. "That's much better," Shaw said condescendingly. "If I want to, I can make this very easy on you… and your new husband. And if I want to, it can become… difficult. I would think that it's in your best interests that you are able to convince me of your willingness to prove to me that you want to become friends. In fact, towards that end, bring something sexy to show me. I see that you used your government credit card at Victoria's Secret yesterday. You purchased several very expensive pieces. Do you have something red?"

Sarah paused until it was clear that he was expecting an answer. "I suppose so," she finally said.

"Excellent," Shaw said. "I'm looking forward to seeing it. It might just break the ice and get our friendship off on the right foot. Maybe we'll go out for a drink after our... negotiation session, perhaps even dancing. Who knows? You might have a good time. Tell me, Sarah. What are you wearing now?"

"Fine," Sarah said coolly. "Have your fun. You clearly think that you've won. Okay, yes, I'd like to end this. I'd like to raise my family without a lifetime of looking over my shoulder. So under the right circumstances I might be convinced to hold my nose and we might be able to come up with a solution where you get some things that you want. Just understand something. Miscalculating and pushing me too far would be a serious mistake. Don't expect to see me modeling anything in red, or any other color, until you can assure me that Chuck and I will be allowed to live our lives together in peace. I would only consider going there if I know that he's protected. I also think that you need to temper your expectations significantly. I'm never going to become a Hannah Watkins style yes-girl. There are some things that I'd rather die than give up. And if I'm going to die, I'm certainly going to be taking some others with me, you being high on that list. If we both realize that, and your demands aren't totally out of line tonight, maybe we can come to some sort of understanding."

Shaw now made no effort to keep the gloating tone from his voice. "I'm a little confused, Sarah," he said. "You say that you want to end this but all I'm hearing from you are demands and threats. I think that you're smart enough to know what I'm expecting when we meet later. Okay, you think it's unprofessional. You might be right. Tough. This is now personal to me. You've had your fun challenging my manhood. This is now my price and it's non-negotiable. So tell me, now that you clearly understand my terms, do you want to make a deal with me tonight or not?"

Sarah paused for such a long moment that Shaw was beginning to think that she had hung up. But then she sighed. "Yes," she finally said softly. "I do."

"So assuming that I do the things that you want," Shaw said briskly. "That I go a mile out of my way and do you this huge favor by making sure that you and Mr. Bartowski get to live a semi-normal life and have dozens of babies together, what color is the garment that you'll be wearing for my amusement? The one I'm going to be lifting over your head and tossing to the floor tonight to kick off our evening?"

"I guess we're done beating around the bush," Sarah said sarcastically. "That's okay. Quite frankly, the witty repartee was getting me a little nauseous anyway. You want to hear me say it? Fine, I'll bring the red one. Yes, if I get everything that I want tonight, you'll get what you want. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Shaw said as he ended the call. "See you at nine."

Shaw and Hannah were both laughing so hard that they couldn't speak for a long moment. "She is totally desperate," Hannah finally said. "She was trying to put up a tough front but she knows that this is over. Are we actually going to meet them? It might be fun to see how far you can push her tonight. She all but offered to bring the condoms."

"I don't think so," Shaw said thoughtfully. "Why do we need to rush this? She agreed far too easily. I think she still might have a little something up her sleeve. Maybe she'll want to try and capture us. Perhaps offer us as trade bait in exchange for her new husband. No, we're holding all the cards at this point. At least we know where she'll be tonight. Our next discussion will be totally on my terms. When we have him in custody she won't be demanding anything, she'll be begging. I won't have to push her. She'll be the one trying to get in my good graces."

"That's true," Hannah agreed. "I have to say, that's one tape I'm going to enjoy showing to my good friend Chuck. I have somewhat of a score to settle with him."

"Speaking of that, I'd like you to take charge of tonight's capture," Shaw said. "Make sure that nobody gets eager and kills him. We need him in one piece."

Hannah did a double take. "You're letting me back in the field?" she asked.

"You've earned it," Shaw said. "Congratulations, Agent Watkins. I'm confident that you won't encounter any trouble. After all, Walker and Casey are going to be miles away waiting for us. But if Bartowski does try anything, kill the sister and fiancé. We can blame it on him, it will be a lesson he won't forget, and it's one less pain in our ass. Oh, and one more thing. We don't need Agent Larkin any longer. Make sure that he doesn't come back no matter what."

Hannah's eyes were shinning. "Thank you," she said. "I won't let you down."

"Actually," Shaw said as he reached over and unbuttoned the top button on her blouse. "That wasn't the thank you I was hoping for."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah walked back into Steven's room after ending the call, she saw Chuck trying to clean up the mess where he had thrown the glass of soda that he was holding against the wall in frustration, shattering it into a million pieces. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that," he said as they watched Shaw and Hannah on the monitor falling all over themselves in laughter. Then he turned to his dad angrily. "Was that disgusting charade really necessary?"

Sarah took a step towards him but it was actually Ellie who got there first. "Think about it, sweetie," she said as she rubbed his back soothingly. "Yes, that was unpleasant to listen too. But that scumbag now thinks that he has her. He thinks she is desperate. He is blinded with the thought of her surrendering to him. It also cemented in his mind that you're actually going to come alone tonight. After all, he now knows where Sarah and Casey will be at that same time. At least he thinks that he does."

Sarah knew that she had to calm him down. So she put a relaxed smile on her face. "Come on, Chuck," she said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have talked to you before you had to watch that. But I wouldn't have been able to do it if I had. Why are you so upset? It was just words."

Chuck sat there for a long moment. "That bastard thinks that he's going to see you modeling red lingerie," he said.

Carina stepped up with a mischievous grin. "Look at the bright side, Chuck," she said. "I really don't think he was planning on her wearing it for very long."

For some strange reason that broke the tension in the room and they all started laughing, even Chuck.

Sarah stepped up to him and put her arms around him. "Okay," she said, as soon as she could stop laughing. "Yes. So what? He thinks he is getting something. But he never is. Daniel Shaw is never going to see me modeling anything. The only thing he is ever going to see of me is a muzzle flash and an E ticket ride directly to hell. I understand that you hate him. He's easy to hate. I hate him too. He's almost a caricature of evil. I understand that you're just being protective. It's sweet. Imagine our next phone call where we make fun of him for falling for our trap."

Carina turned her sly grin towards Steven. "You just took one of the very best agents in the world, figured out his twisted personal weakness, and totally used it against him," she said approvingly. "Now he's blind with lust and about to walk right into a trap. I'm very impressed. I thought that you didn't like the CIA. What we just witnessed was a text book manipulation. Where did you learn how to do that?"

"Well, Carina," Steven replied with his own sly grin. "I was married to a CIA agent before your mom and dad even met."

Carina's grin broadened as she reached out and touched his arm affectionately. "Actually," she said. "I'm not sure that my mom and dad ever did technically meet. It was the tail end of the free love generation. I think that maybe I was born too soon. I would have fit right in with the hippies, don't you think?"

Sarah wasn't sure why she bristled so much at the thought of Carina so overtly flirting with Dad, but she clearly did. Oh, she knew that was just Carina's style with a man, any man. And it certainly wasn't that she was annoyed for Casey's benefit… he obviously couldn't have cared less who Carina flirted with. It wasn't within the bounds of whatever you would call their relationship to be possessive, and they both knew it.

Maybe she was just being protective of her new mother-in-law, the one she hadn't yet met. Whatever, it was annoying. So she quickly changed the subject. "That actually went better than I expected," Sarah said. "Dad, were you expecting him to offer to meet?"

"It was fifty-fifty," Steven said. "Our main objective here was to make him think that you don't know where Chuck is and are desperate to make a deal. It was an added bonus that he now thinks you and Major Casey are going to be occupied tonight. By the way, Mrs. Bartowski, you were simply brilliant playing him. Chuck, I know that you're not that happy with me right now. I'm sorry about that. But your wife just saved lives here today, including very possibly your future brother-in-law. Thank you for bringing her into our family, but also thank you for bringing her onto our side."

Sarah wasn't sure why she was blushing like a schoolgirl being praised for bringing home a good report card at his simple compliment, but she clearly was. "Thanks," she said. "It's almost a shame that we have other plans for tonight. I wish I could go meet him. I'm going to eventually pump a clip into his head. Why not tonight?"

"Umm," Chuck said. "I thought I was going to get to deal with Shaw? Isn't that why I'm doing all this training?"

"That was the original plan," Sarah agreed. "But after that phone call, I'm thinking that this is now a gift that you're going to present in love to your new wife. Thank you in advance. I'll find a way to make it up to you. I also think I need to go take a shower."

"Shower?" Casey questioned. "Your hair is still a little wet from the first one. He sounded pretty excited. Do you think he might actually show up?"

"I don't think so," Steven said thoughtfully. "You heard him. He thinks it's a trap of some kind. I'm thinking that he's going to wait until he has Chuck, then make Sarah come crawling to him. And if he does show up, so what? He'll find an empty hotel lobby. All we wanted was to plant the image in his brain of Sarah's surrender and tell him where she won't be tonight. It sounds like that mission was accomplished."

"Speaking of disgusting images," Ellie said as she nodded towards the monitor where Shaw and Hannah were tangled in mostly undress on the top of his desk, just about ready to, umm… engage. "Do we really have to watch this?"

Steven's face quickly turned red. He reached for the keyboard to turn it off.

Carina's sudden exclamation stopped him. "Oh my God," she said with a smirk as she pointed to the monitor. "This is absolutely amazing. Just look at his face. He clearly thinks that Hannah Watkins just turned blonde."

Casey quickly picked up on her sport and chimed in. "She also suddenly grew a few inches taller," he said with a grin.

"I wonder what she is whispering in his ear," Carina replied in a curious tone. "She can say 'Oh God… harder …harder…' in something like ten languages, you know?"

Casey pretended to stare at the monitor. "Did her chest get bigger?"

Carina just shook her head. "That's an optical illusion, big guy," she explained. "A lot of people make that mistake. It's called a pushup bra."

Steven could help but smile at the good natured ribbing at Sarah's expense. "You two are incorrigible," he said as he shook his head. He pressed a key and the screen turned dark. Then he turned to Sarah. "You're sure that you're comfortable letting Chuck participate tonight?" he asked, more to change the subject than anything.

"I'm sure," Sarah sighed. "He's certainly motivated. We can use him."

"I understand that he was most impressive when he thought that you were in danger," Steven said.

"And you most definitely are going to be in danger," Casey said with a smirk. "So we should see badass come out to play."

Sarah turned to Carina in mock disgust. "And where is your room to talk?" she asked. "If I did ever decide to wear a pushup bra, at least that means I'd actually be wearing a bra. Maybe you should try it."

That got Ellie laughing. And when Ellie laughed, it was hard to not join in.

Sarah reached up and kissed Chuck. "Well one thing is for sure," she said with somewhat of a growing grin. "Daniel Shaw accomplished something in ten minutes that you couldn't do all last night."

"What's that?" Chuck asked. His grin matched hers.

"He put my fire out."

x-x-x-x-x


	23. They Can't Hurt You Any More

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**They Can't Hurt You any More**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck couldn't get over the change in Sarah. Chuck had been on enough missions with her to know. Usually when she was getting ready for a mission her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. And the look on her face, well there was only one other time when she got that particular look and hopefully Chuck was the only person who was ever going to see it. But tonight was different. There wasn't that spark. It was replaced by a certain sadness.

Chuck decided to cheer her up. And lately that meant one thing. Okay, so it was true that Sarah was probably sexy no matter what she was wearing. And that dark black mission outfit certainly wasn't designed to flatter a lady's figure. But wow. All right, maybe it wasn't the same kind of sexy as that red negligee last night… but damn. "Are you sure that we have to get so dressed, so soon?" he asked with a grin as he pulled her close.

But Sarah was having none of it. "Down boy," she said firmly. "This is not the time for any of that."

Chuck wasn't actually prepared to be turned down that abruptly… or at all for that matter. It hadn't happened, well, since they had been together. His face probably showed his surprise.

But Sarah didn't give an inch. "We have to talk," she said.

"Okay," Chuck sighed. "I get it. No sex before a fight. It weakens the legs. Yeah, I saw Rocky."

"Well," Sarah said. "I'm not sure who Rocky is, but it's more than just that. If you want out of the car, if you want me to be okay with the intersect making you this hero person, you're going to have to show me that you're willing to respect it."

"Seriously," Chuck said. "Are you possibly the only person on the planet who has never seen the movie Rocky? Yo, Adrian?"

That let out the fiery side of Sarah that she was well known for. "This is exactly what I'm talking about," she said, quite a bit more harshly than she originally intended. "You don't take this seriously. You never have." Then she saw the devastated look on Chuck's face and took a long moment to calm herself. "I hate yelling at you," she finally said. "I hate it. I hate telling you no, to anything really, but especially to that. I never want to tell you no. I'd like nothing better than to rip these clothes off and spend the night in bed. I'm still willing to forget this mission and do exactly that. Do you believe me?"

Chuck took a deep breath. "Yes," he finally said. "I believe you. But we need to rescue Devon."

"Yes," Sarah said. "Of course. We have to rescue Devon. But, Chuck, there is always going to be that thing that we have to do. There is always going to be somebody who needs rescuing or some bomb that needs defusing or some evil plot that needs to be stopped. You just have to take it seriously. This is not a game, sweetie. People are going to die tonight. And yes, we think of them as bad guys, our enemies and deserving to die, but they're really not. That's just something that we tell ourselves to make us sleep better. For the most part, they are good people who are simply following bad orders. They think we're the bad guys. And they will be trying just as hard to kill us. Do you understand that?"

Chuck nodded. "Yes," he said. "I do."

"I'm not sure that you do," Sarah said. "Look, the intersect gives you all the spy skills and more. If I hadn't seen with my own eyes how much more, I wouldn't believe it. Skill wise, you're more powerful than Carina, Casey, and I put together. If I wasn't convinced of that, you wouldn't be going anyplace close to this mission tonight. But it takes more than that. This isn't one of your video games, Chuck. People are going to be trying to capture or kill you tonight. People are going to be trying to kill me tonight. We're going to be out numbered two-to-one. You simply have to respect that."

"Okay," Chuck said. "You know how I feel about guns and killing people."

"I know," Sarah said. "I'm not crazy about it either. And that's exactly why you're coming. The more agents that the intersect can tranq, the less that Casey, Carina, and I have to kill."

Chuck was still not happy, and his face clearly showed it.

Sarah wrapped him in her arms. "Sweetie," she said. "I'm not angry with you. Not really. I'm sorry if it's sounding like that. I'm just frustrated. I need your head in the game tonight. I love you too much to see something bad happen to you because you're not taking it seriously. This isn't the place for one of those incredibly brave, but also foolishly reckless things that you're always doing. My baby needs his daddy. I need my husband. But even more important for tonight, I need a partner that I can depend on. And that means being in the place where I think he is."

"I know," Chuck said softly. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"I need you attached to my hip tonight," Sarah said. "I never want to have to wonder where you're at. Every single time I turn around, you need to be right there. Understood?"

Chuck didn't answer he just nodded. Then he remembered that Sarah always needed to hear him say it. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "I understand."

In spite of the tense situation Sarah couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. "So," she said. "You're not going to say it?"

Responding to Chuck's puzzled look, Sarah continued. "You're really not going to say how much you usually enjoy being attached to my hip? You disappoint me."

"I was,' Chuck admitted. "But then I thought better of it. You sound sort of angry."

"I know," Sarah said softly. "I do, don't I? I'm sorry about that. This is how I always get before missions. And this one has me particularly on edge. Don't worry. After this is over, you'll get your on fire, newlywed wife back."

"I promise."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon and Misty sat in the room and waited for the clock that was moving painfully slowly to finally get to the time for them to leave. Bryce had fully briefed them on what to expect. He warned them that they would hear tons of shooting, and not to panic. Since Devon knew all the team by sight, except perhaps for Carina, Misty was told to follow his lead. They were told to follow any instructions from Sarah or Casey immediately without trying to figure out what they meant.

Sure, they were both plenty nervous. After all, this was a very dangerous situation. A score of agents were going to be shooting it out tonight. And they were going to be the figurative flag that one team was trying to capture. And Chuck was the flag that the other team was trying equally hard to capture. Except this was no game. This was as life-or-death real as it gets.

Devon was pacing back and forth. Misty couldn't help but smile as she sat on the bed and watched him working off his nervous energy. Oh, she knew exactly what he was feeling. She felt it too, a little. After all it was exciting. They were going to be rescued. They were going to be part of a desperate gang trying to save the free world. It was unbelievably romantic. But Misty could also see something else in his eyes. He was going to see his fiancé again. He was going to be with Ellie. And that meant…

Devon stopped his pacing and came to sit next to her on the bed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Misty felt her smile growing. "What's wrong?" she repeated incredulously. "Are you being serious? We're getting ready for a shootout at the OK corral. Aren't you afraid that one of the thousand bullets being shot tonight might have your name written on it?"

But Devon wasn't buying that. "No," he said dismissively. "Like I'm really going to let you get away with that. Tell me what's really wrong. Do you seriously think I can't tell when something is wrong with you?"

Misty just looked at him for a long moment. "I've never met anyone like you," she finally sighed. "I'm really going to miss you."

"Why are you going to miss me?" Devon asked incredulously. "Are you going someplace?"

"Come on, Devon," Misty said. "That's not what I mean and you know it. Let's face it. You're getting your fiancé back. There is no room for me in your life after that. Our relationship is going to change."

Devonput his arm around her and pulled her close. "I need you to listen to me," he said firmly. "I need you to take a deep breath, set aside all of your fear and worry about tonight, clear your mind, and hear what I'm going to say. Can you do that for a minute?"

Misty made no attempt to wipe the tears from her eyes. She just rested her head on his shoulder and nodded.

"Our relationship is not going to change," Devon said. "We've just shared a once in a lifetime adventure together. So this probably happened faster than normal, but we're now honest, life long friends who love each other. That's going to be true for as long as we live. And yes, my relationship with Ellie is different than my relationship with you. But that doesn't mean I have anything less for you. I'm going to be here for you in every way that a best friend can be. You can count on that. I'm also going to depend on that same commitment from you. The only real thing that is going to change is the sleeping arrangements. It's probably best if we stopped sleeping together. I do think that Ellie would object to that. After all, I might dream again."

"Come on, Devon," Misty pleaded. "I'm trying to be serious here. It's sweet that you're trying to cheer me up. But be honest. Do you really think Ellie is going to be okay with that? No way."

"You're not listening to me," Devon replied. "I'm being completely serious. Ellie is going to have to be okay with it. She has no choice. It's non-negotiable. And you're actually wrong about Ellie. You're underestimating her by quite a lot. She's going to be okay. It's exactly what I've had to be okay with between her and Cole. I wasn't given much of an option either."

"Are you using me to get back at Ellie over Cole?" Misty asked.

"That would be a pretty small thing to do, wouldn't it?" Devon asked softly. "Is that really what you think?"

"Devon," Misty said quickly. "I'm sorry that I sounded like that. It wasn't a criticism. It would be human nature to want to get back at her. If you want that, you know that I'm willing to do my part." Then she got really quiet. "I'd like that," she said softly.

Devon smiled. "I know," he said. "But you don't hurt someone that you love just because they might have hurt you. That's not what love is."

"I'm sorry," Misty said. "It just came out. I didn't mean…"

"Relax," Devon interrupted. "I know what you meant. I understand how it could seem that way to you. Actually, it's exactly the opposite. You've made me realize that I don't have to fear Cole. Ellie can have someone in her life that she loves, that maybe she is even attracted to, that maybe she could even see herself with. I know now that can happen without being a threat to me. Because that's exactly how I feel about you. You've really helped me a lot."

"Thank you," Misty said. "That was nice. You know how I feel about you. I'll respect that you have a fiancé. It's just…she… she… makes me mad."

"Look," Devon said. "I fully understand that you don't like Ellie. But the honest truth is you've never really met her. She's actually a very nice, warm, understanding person. She is actually a lot like you. If you both will just give each other a chance, you're going to become good friends. I know it. That would sure make things a lot easier for me. But I can't demand that. What I can demand is that you respect each other. You are going to have to accept that Ellie is going to be my wife without trying to undermine her. And Misty, when you offer to have sex with me, no matter how well intentioned it was, it undermines my wife. That can't happen again, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Misty said softly. "Don't be mad at me. I hate that."

"I'm so not mad at you," Devon said. "At all. It was sweet. I'm just pointing out the boundaries that we're all going to have to respect for this to work. A wife shouldn't have to worry that her husband's best friend is constantly trying to get him in bed. I'm going to call you out every time you cross that boundary. But guess what? Ellie has her own boundaries to respect. Best friends have rights too. You and I are going to share things that Ellie won't understand. We're going to have our secret looks and inside jokes that she won't get. You're going to be able to call me at three in the morning when you just need to talk without worrying if you're getting me in trouble with my wife. She is going to have to accept that you're my best friend without trying to undermine you. I promise that I won't allow her to do that either. I'll call her out every time she crosses that boundary too. I'd have a lot less calling out to do if you two would just become friends."

"Okay, here's the thing," Misty said. "I don't like her. You're right about that. I know you think that I'm just jealous of her. Yes, I'll freely admit that's part of it. But I also don't think that she treats you very well. You deserve to be treated better. I'd treat you a lot, lot better. I hope you won't think I'm undermining her when I tell her that."

Devon laughed. "Look," he said. "I'm not expecting this friendship to happen tonight. I understand that both of you have some issues to overcome. Trust me. She's not going to be all that happy with you either when she finds out what you didn't wear to bed that first night. I'm going to have this exact same conversation with her. But all I'm really asking is for you to honestly give her a chance. Will you please do that? For me?"

Misty sighed. "That's not fair," she grumbled. "You know that I would do anything for you."

"Well so will she," Devon said softly.

"That's why we don't have anything to worry about."

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah Watkins was briefing her own team. This was her first mission since making it all the way back from hell, and she sure as hell wasn't about to blow it. She put Chuck's picture up on the video screen. "This is our prime objective,' she said. "He is a prime asset. He has information vital to our prime objectives. Our number one rule of engagement is that he be secured alive. Anybody else is expendable. But we need Bartowski. Is that understood?"

A chorus of "Yes, ma'am," quickly came from the assembled men in blue suits. "Excuse me, ma'am," said one of the men. "Why no aerial support?"

"We can't risk it,' Hannah said as she switched the screen to a map of the mall parking lot. "Bartowski has clearly infiltrated our communications. There would be no way to coordinate air support without risking tipping him off. We've turned off all of our surveillance inside the base to keep him in the dark. Besides, we have more than enough man power to deal with whatever he has planned. The way the stores are located, means there are only three usable access points," she said as she pointed to the appropriate spots on the map. "Also, the parking lot design means we can't use vehicles. We will be much faster on foot. So we'll split into three teams. Bartowski clearly picked this location with a purpose. He will be looking for any sign of a trap. It's imperative that no one move past this point until Bartowski is visible. Agent Larkin, do you understand your assignment?"

"Yes, ma'am," Bryce quickly said. "I will drive the two prisoners to this location. They will be secured to each other. I will have them get out of the car and be visible to where Bartowski will be watching. As soon as Bartowski shows up, I'll stall him as long as necessary until my backup arrives. We'll secure him and the other two, and return to base. There are actually more men here than I expected, ma'am. We agreed on ten."

"Yes, ma'am," said one of the men. "Fifteen agents to capture one computer nerd? Isn't that a bit of overkill?"

"Don't underestimate him," Hannah said. "This is a brilliant man who doesn't have much to lose and is looking for any sign of a trap. He almost assuredly has some trick up his own sleeve in mind. Agent Shaw wants to take no chances. When Agent Larkin gives the signal, we'll all move in together in overwhelming force. If Bartowski aggressively resists, we'll terminate the hostages. I'll give that order. Bartowski will need to be carried to the car."

"Carried, ma'am?" Bryce replied. He tried hard not to show any surprise. But the termination order had just complicated things.

"Yes," Hannah said with a grin as she recalled the embarrassment of being seduced and secured. "He will be temporarily incapacitated by my boot to his groin. It's somewhat of a personal thing between us."

All Bryce could do was smile as he remembered Sarah's recent boot to his own groin… all because Chuck had tattled on him to her. There was actually some measure of justice here. Even though it was never going to happen, even though the first rule of his mission was to protect Chuck, the image of Hannah giving him a taste of that himself was not totally unpleasant.

"Yes, ma'am."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie sat in the darkened van in the long closed tire store parking lot and waited. She was about a quarter mile away from the mall where the battle was set to take place, well out of range of any of the immediate action. Dad had sent her ostensibly as the team physician, just in case any of the team needed medical attention. They all knew the real reason. It was so that she would feel part of the team and not have to go crazy wondering what was happening. She had to admit, it was exciting… in a scary sort of way. her heart was pounding with the adrenalin. The earpiece in her ear was very uncomfortable. But it was also soothing as she listened to the team softly giving each other status updates.

She had participated in the mission briefing, not that she understood everything. There was a lot of military type talk. Casey was actually pretty sweet calmly explaining the terms to her. If his stock was to rise much higher he was going to earn a promotion to good friend. One thing that she definitely did understand was the look of concern on Dad's face when he learned that fifteen agents would be sent instead of ten. And there was also a lot of discussion about the termination order. There was even some talk about calling off the mission. But they ultimately decided that they had too much invested and this was their best shot. Hopefully, they would keep them too busy and eliminate everyone before they could carry out any order. Besides, Bryce would be with them as a last line of defense.

Fortunately they were able to watch Hannah's briefing. So they knew exactly how many agents were going to be deployed and where. Three were going to come in from each flank. Thanks to Casey's teaching, Ellie now knew what flank meant. Why couldn't they just say side? Anyway Casey and Carina were assigned to intercept them. They were already in their respective positions, hidden in spots to ambush them as they passed. With surprise on their side, they had a good chance of quickly eliminating them without the risk of accepting any return fire. But that left the main force of nine to come in the front path.

That was at the very limit of what Chuck and Sarah could handle without being overrun, even with the advantages of surprise and the intersect. Chuck was instructed to tranq as many of the approaching men as he possibly could. Hopefully he could eliminate five. It would be up to Sarah to handle the remaining four before they could reach them. That was a tall order since they wouldn't have as much advantage of surprise and their adversaries would be facing them.

If it came down to a hand-to-hand battle, the intersect would have to carry the day. Fortunately, the first rule was that nobody would shoot at Chuck. But they did have a clear weakness. The worst case scenario would be someone getting to Sarah. If they were smart, they would know that a gun to Sarah's head would cause Chuck to quickly surrender. That meant game over. Although there was no way to communicate with him, hopefully Bryce would understand the situation and concentrate his efforts to assist them. It was very unlikely that Casey or Carina would be able to offer any assistance in time to be of any help. They would be too far away. And they had their own problems.

Adding to the tension was the fact that Dad had also picked this time to relocate the team to a new base, something about never staying in one spot for long. Somehow he had secured a farm house out in the country. According to his description, it had many bedrooms, it's own private airstrip, and, what appealed most to Ellie, a fully apportioned kitchen. She was so looking forward to cooking a real meal. Eating out of a paper bag was getting more than old. Honestly trying to teach Sarah, and maybe even Carina, how to cook a thing or two might also be fun.

Ellie thought about the last tape that Dad had let her watch just before they left. It was a mixed bag. Yes, she was more than excited for the chance to see Devon again. And she was also more than relieved to hear him say that he finally understood about her and Cole. But still… he was going to make her be friends with that Misty slut? That didn't seem like him. Of course as she calmed down and thought about it, she had to admit, it seemed very fair. He was right. It's what she had demanded of him with Cole. He was also right in that she didn't give him any option. That slut Misty was even right when she said that she hadn't been treating him very well. Okay, so maybe she had a point. Maybe that was even something that had to change. But Ellie definitely wasn't going to sit calmly and listen to this clueless Misty person lecture her. That was for damn sure.

Ellie was startled out of her internal thoughts by Carina's voice in her ear softly reporting that the car was approaching the predetermined spot. Quickly Casey's voice verified that Devon and the girl were out of the car and in plain sight.

It was show time.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah sat in their hiding spot waiting. Like Casey and Carina they were hiding behind Dad's newest invention, a screen that made them virtually invisible. She knew that it would clearly make her a hypocrite because of this afternoon's blistering lecture but she grabbed Chuck's hand and held it gently anyway. Indeed, the semi-amused look that he gave her very plainly said they would be having this discussion later. But it was worth eating a small amount of crow. Hopefully he would even demand some other sort of apology. She was more than willing to comply. After all, it was worth it. She got to hold his hand for a while.

She let go of his hand when she heard Carina announcing Bryce's arrival. As soon as she heard Casey say that they were out of the car and everything looked as planned, she reached over and gently kissed him. As long as she was going to be a hypocrite, she might as well be a total one, right? "Remember," she whispered. "I love you. Never leave my hip." Then she nodded for him to stand up and step away from the car they were crouched behind so that Bryce could see them.

That's when all hell broke loose. Agents came pouring out of their positions ready to surround and capture Chuck. The first ones to pass were the ones assigned to Casey and Carina. The second that they started shooting, Chuck flashed. As Sarah expected, the intersect made his marksmanship deadly, which was ironic since he was shooting a non-lethal tranq gun. In methodical fashion his share of five of the nine agents hit the ground.

Sarah wasn't having as much luck. It was hard to hit a moving target at long range in the dark with a handgun. It got a little easier as they got closer. But that also meant they were getting closer. She finally did manage to down three. But that left one, Hannah Watkins. Bryce was clearly running towards them trying to return fire. But he suddenly went down in heap.

Chuck was finally able to finish off the last of his assignment and turn his attention towards where Hannah was shooting in the direction of Devon and Misty. Fortunately, it only took one shot before she collapsed. He and Sarah just looked at each other for a moment before they ran towards where Bryce was lying.

"Ellie," Sarah called. "Bryce has been hit. Get the van here, now."

Casey verified that all the hostiles were accounted for. He and Carina quickly ran around to check on all the bodies making sure that they weren't going to be surprised by anyone playing dead.

Ellie got the van there just about the time Chuck and Sarah arrived at the spot where Bryce was lying. The large and ever growing red patch on his chest very clearly said that he had been hit. Devon and Misty were still secured to each other but they were plainly trying to get to where Bryce was lying. Sarah screamed at Devon for them to get back in the car and get their heads down. They then quickly went to either side of Bryce and lifted him into the back of the van. Bryce was panting for breath, but at least he was still conscious. In spite of the situation he still tried to make a joke.

"Hey, Chuck, I forgot to duck."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie got out of the van and quickly walked to the back to look at Bryce lying there. It was clear without much examination that this situation was critical. So she immediately sprang into action. "We need to get him to a hospital," she yelled. "Right now."

Chuck jumped in the driver's seat and threw the vehicle into gear. In their mission preparation earlier they had already planned out the route to the closest hospital just in case of this contingency. He barely gave then enough time to close the doors before he stomped on the gas. The tires squawked loudly as he roared out of the parking lot.

"Casey," Sarah shouted breathlessly into her wire. "Bryce is hit. We're taking him to the hospital."

"Roger that," Casey's voice crackled in her earpiece. They were already getting on the edge of use for the short-range equipment they were using. "Carina and I will secure Devon and the girl. We'll meet back at the new base."

Ellie tore open his shirt and began to examine his wound. Having been an Emergency Room Doctor for several years, she had seen enough gunshot wounds to know that this one was almost assuredly fatal. If she had been at the hospital, she would have started a blood transfusion and rushed him into emergency surgery… and he would have died on the Operating Room table. But here in this dark van she couldn't even do that. All she could do was to apply some pressure to his wound, try to stem the bleeding as much as possible, hopefully get him to the hospital still alive, and pray for a miracle.

Sarah knelt by Bryce's head and grabbed his hand. "Don't worry," she said. "We're taking you to the hospital. Hold on."

Sarah could tell that Bryce was trying to tell her something. So she lowered her head and put her ear close to his face.

"I'm happy for you," Bryce whispered. "Tell Chuck that I'm happy for you."

Sarah tried to keep the worry off her face. So she forced a soft smile. "Thanks," she said. "That's sweet. You know how much we both care about you. But let's not worry about that right now. Hang on, sweetie. We'll be there in just a couple of minutes."

"I've never seen you so happy," Bryce whispered as he closed his eyes for the final time. "Take care of each other…"

Ellie really already knew. But she checked his pulse anyway. It was an odd feeling. Bryce Larkin had been a symbol of what was wrong with her brother for many years now. Even now that she knew the truth, that he was an honest to goodness hero with every good intention, the very mention of his name was enough to get the bile rising up her throat. But she was a professional physician. She had taken an oath. She would have done anything it took to help her patient, no matter what the personal situation was.

And Dr. Eleanor Bartowski hated losing patients. She absolutely hated it. They constantly warned you in Medical School to avoid developing a God Complex. They told you over and over again that death was almost always beyond your control, that every one of your patients would eventually die. But that didn't matter to Ellie. It was like a personal thing to her, an admission of failure. She briefly thought about her treatment options… and quickly came to the only possible conclusion. Bryce had only been her patient for a few short minutes, but now that was over. Chuck was up there driving like a mad man desperately trying to race time itself to get his friend to the hospital. There was no longer any sense in getting them all killed. "Chuck," she called. "I need you to pull over for a minute."

As soon as Chuck had the van stopped he turned and looked back at them. There was only one professional thing left to do. So Ellie looked at her watch. "Time of death, ten-seventeen," she said. Then she looked to her best friend. "I'm very sorry."

It took Sarah a long moment to realize the significance of what Ellie had just said. She turned to look at Chuck. He had his head resting on the steering wheel silently sobbing. She knew that this would absolutely devastate him. She immediately felt a little guilty that, given the circumstance, her first thought was about her husband… but it was. Chuck always saw the good in every situation. This was the first time he would have to face the ultimate sacrifice that this life he was now contemplating often called for. This was one instance where she knew that she would have to be the emotionally strong one. She desperately needed to get up there and hold him, for both of their sakes.

She looked down at her former partner, lover, and friend and thought about their times together. For some strange reason, he looked so peaceful. Gone was the desperation in his jaw that seemingly only she could see. Oh, he was good at covering his pain with that boyish grin. But she instantly knew what it was. He was no longer running from his personal demons that he could never seem to control or effectively fight. He had died as he had lived, desperately chasing something that he could never hope to catch. Sarah knew exactly what that was like. Before she found Chuck it had described her perfectly.

Sarah could say without any hint of reservation that she loved Bryce, as long as you defined carefully what you meant by love. Even more than loved him, she appreciated him. There was a time when she even needed him. He had gotten her through a very tough patch in her life. She would always appreciate that. She even sensed that she had done the same for him… that losing her was one of those demons that was harder on him than he was letting on. It wasn't exactly love. It was something else. It was what settled for love in a spy's existence. Existence was actually a good word. It really wasn't a life. Now that Sarah had a life, for the first time she realized the difference. Whatever you would call it, Bryce wasn't in love with her. And she wasn't in love with him… and she never had been. But still he was a good man. Losing him like this was… simply not fair.

So she gently brushed the hair from his now closed eyes and kissed his brow. As she got up to go to her husband, Sarah was struck by the symbolic nature of her act. Her past was now dead, and her future needed her. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said softly as she released the now limp hand and placed it gently by his side. She felt the stinging tears filling her eyes. "You're safe now. They can't hurt you any more."

"And neither can I."

x-x-x-x-x


	24. The Circle of Life

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Circle of Life**

x-x-x-x-x

The new base was, well, amazing was the only word that really fit. It was clearly originally an old farm house. But it had been expertly restored and was now as modern as something built yesterday. It was way out in the country in the middle of a huge farm. And since it sat on a hill, it commanded a view of the surrounding countryside for miles. Actually even with that, it was the only house within sight. Even at night, the first thing that Sarah noticed was the huge trees that surrounded the place and how it would make any aerial surveillance all but impossible.

Once she stepped inside, the first thought was that it was the biggest house that Sarah had ever seen. It had a zillion bedrooms… well, actually only eight. But each one had it's own bathroom. The dining room looked like something out of a king's mansion. It had a huge oak table that twenty people could easily sit around without feeling crowded one bit. One glance at the family room told her that it was a communications center, packed with enough electronics to make a NASA technician envious.

If Sarah had been thinking clearly, she would have questioned how such a big house was so instantly livable. All the beds were made up with clean linen. Every bathroom had a full supply of soaps, shampoos, and fresh towels. The kitchen, pantry, and refrigerator were fully stocked. There was even a huge bowl of fresh fruit sitting on the dining room table. There was no way that Dad could have done all of that in just a couple of days. He either had been planning this for some time, or he had help.

Under normal circumstances, Sarah would have been ecstatic. She had been here for a grand total of twenty minutes. She hadn't seen half of the rooms yet, but she immediately felt at home. This was exactly the huge family setting that she had dreamed about but never, ever expected that she would actually have. It was the perfect setting for the extended family Thanksgiving dinner that she had always imagined. Okay, so it was a different kind of family. It was a tad hard to explain where Casey and Carina fit in and even harder to explain Misty. But still, there was the promise of huge family meals gathered around in that dining room, of laughing, and good natured teasing, and… just loving family stuff.

But this was anything but normal circumstances. Bryce's death had affected them all, some in different ways perhaps, but everybody was affected in some way. Sarah lost an ex-partner and an ex-lover. Okay, so the ex-lover part was a stretch. Still, he was the first man that she had ever regularly slept with for more than a few days' time. That was something. Dad had also lost a partner. Nobody was really sure what their relationship was or how far back it went, and he wasn't saying. But he clearly was affected.

Ellie had lost a patient. Okay, so he had only been a patient for a few minutes. But she still took the loss hard. The very worst part of being an Emergency Room Doctor was having to walk into that waiting room and tell the family that their loved one was gone. She had taken that sad walk far too many times. You would think that it would get easier the more times that you did it, but it never did. It was even worse when the folks that you were delivering the horrible news to were ones that you loved. The bigger part of her concern was over Sarah and especially Chuck. Ellie was the one who had to drive the van back to the new base. Chuck was in no shape to drive. And Sarah was too concerned about him to leave his side. So they spent the ride cuddled with each other wordlessly.

Devon and Misty didn't know Bryce all that well at all. Devon especially was never quite sure that Bryce was totally a friend. But he had just given his life to rescue them. That had to affect you, right?

Probably the only ones who weren't affected all that much were Carina and Casey. Oh, they weren't happy that he was dead. In fact, they both were furious at losing a partner on a mission. But neither could claim to be all that fond of him, especially Carina. And both accepted that death was the very real risk that you took every time you went out on a mission. Fortunately, that made them the perfect candidates to deal with the body. The typical manner in such a circumstance would be to 'borrow' a car, park it with the body outside of a hospital, and make a phone call. It was child's play. Borrowing cars was Carina's specialty anyway. It's how she had come to become a spy in the first place, but that's a story for another time. They had been gone about an hour and had shown no sign of returning.

Naturally, the one most severely affected was Chuck. He had lost the most. No, he couldn't claim to be close to Bryce. They had been good friends once. But that was a long time ago and a lot of water had passed under that particular bridge. If anything they were now far more rivals than friends… with Chuck always coming in second place, in his mind anyway. No, Chuck really couldn't claim to have lost a close friend. He had lost something even more fundamental, his innocence. This was the first time that the spy life had claimed someone that he cared about in his presence. Sarah was semi-frantic looking at him. His glassy eyes didn't seem to focus. It simply broke Sarah's heart to see him acting so in shock. Chuck's defining attribute was that he could see the humor in almost any situation… but not tonight. He just sat there numbly.

Sarah also felt so bad for Ellie. This should have been a celebration. She was back with Devon. But it was anything but happy. You could cut the tension between them with a knife. It didn't help that Devon was hurt in the battle. He had caught one of Hannah's bullets in his arm. It wasn't serious, Casey had wrapped up the spot in some gauze. But it was now going to require some stitches.

Then there was Misty. She was clearly beyond uncomfortable as she sat there looking around. Actually, Sarah felt badly for her as well. She obviously felt out of place. She had come into this totally prepared to not like Misty. After all, she had put her best friend through a very uncomfortable few nights. But as she sat there, Sarah quickly found herself feeling sorry for the girl. After all, she was pretty innocent in all of this. And she had been brilliant playing her part with Bryce to set the rescue up. And really, falling for Devon wasn't so criminal. After all, he was as nice as he was gorgeous. So maybe they could talk later. But that would have to wait until tomorrow. Sarah was certainly in no mood to talk tonight.

Finally Steven stepped up. "This has been a long day," he said. "We're all exhausted. Why don't we all get some sleep? Things will be better in the morning." Then he pointed to various bedrooms. There were four on the main floor and four upstairs. "Chuck and Sarah, you can take this room on the right."

Sarah could think of nothing better than climbing into bed, snuggling as close as she could possibly get to her new husband, and sleeping for three days straight. When she learned which room would be theirs she immediately grabbed Chuck by the hand and started to lead him there.

"Devon," Steven said. "Are you well enough to climb upstairs?"

Devon looked to the man that he really hadn't met yet, but who would soon be his father-in-law. "Of course," he said with a smile. "This is just a scratch."

"Good," Steven said. "You can take the room at the top of the stairs to the right."

Devon nodded and stood up. Misty grabbed her bag and silently got up as well.

"Seriously?" Ellie said caustically. "You're kidding, right?"

Misty's face couldn't have possibly been any redder. "I'm sorry," she said. "Force of habit."

It was Steven who jumped in and defused a potentially volatile situation. He made it a joke. "I think that maybe Ellie number one should take Devon tonight," he said with as much smile as he could muster. "She needs to fix up his arm." Then he turned to Misty. "Ellie number two, maybe you could take the room at the top of the stairs to the left. Tomorrow, maybe you two Ellies can fight it out."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey and Carina were driving in the darkened van trying to decide what to do with Bryce. They were having the first fight of their new… well, relationship.

"I'm telling you," Carina said in disgust. "We're not leaving Bryce's body in some old Chevy. Yes, it might be easier, but it's not dignified. He was a great spy. He deserves a sports car."

"Yes," Casey said. "I understand that. But if we're going for symbolism here, he was also a great American spy. You can't symbolically bury him in a foreign car. He wouldn't want that."

That got somewhat of a grin. "Okay," she said. "That's something of a good point. We'll find something American." She paused for a moment. "What kind of car would you want?"

"That's easy," Casey replied. "A Crown Vic. That's my style. Nice, roomy, made in the good old U. S. of A. How about you?"

Carina clearly considered the question for a long moment. Given the circumstances, she didn't have the heart to tell him that the Crown Vic was assembled in Canada. She would save that one for a better time. "I think I'd be comfortable with a Crown Vic," she finally replied.

"Really?" Casey replied in surprise. "I always figured you for something classier, a Corvette, or a Porsche perhaps."

"Not really," Carina said. "That's more Sarah. A Crown Vic has a nice comfortable back seat. Have you ever tried to have sex in the back seat of a Porsche, Casey?"

"No," he said with a short laugh. "But I'm sure you have."

"It's all but impossible," Carina said with a grin. "You come away with a stiff neck for a week."

"I'll take your word for it," Casey said with his own grin. But then he got serious. "Tell me something. What do you know about Orion?"

Carina clearly wasn't surprised by the question. "Not much more than you do, I'm afraid," she said with a sigh. "All I know are the rumors. He was a brilliant scientist. The Intersect is only one of the things that he was working on with the agency. And then one day he and his handler totally dropped off the grid. They have been looking for him every since. He is now more legend than anything. Most agents doubt that he even exists, and even if he does no one is sure which side he is on."

"Which side are we on?" Casey asked with a sigh, more to himself than Carina. "I'm not sure which side is which any more."

Carina reached over and grabbed his hand. "That one's easy," she said. "We're on each other's side." Then she quickly responded to his look. "I like having a partner again."

"That's funny," Casey said. "I also always pictured you with a partner who was… classier."

"I know you do," Carina said softly. "That's just because you don't know me very well. Like most people, you think I would go for the Porsche type guys. You're wrong about that. Casey, you're just like the Crown Vic, roomy, comfortable, dependable…" Then she smiled. "Easy to have sex in."

Casey was clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. "I'm not really used to having a partner," he said hesitantly. "Walker is the first partner that has survived with me longer than six weeks and…"

"Don't worry, Casey," Carina quickly interrupted with a laugh at his discomfort. "I'm not Sarah. I'm not looking for a husband. I'm looking for someone who has my back. Let's call it partners… with benefits and leave it at that. I don't expect fidelity. Hopefully, you're not expecting it either."

Casey quickly changed the subject. "How can we get Orion back into the fight?" he asked. "He wants to drop off the grid. I don't think I can do that."

"You don't think?" Carina asked incredulously. "Casey, you know that you would never be able to just drop off the grid. You're just not wired that way. Me either. How can we get through to Orion? There is only one way. Chuck. If Chuck decides to fight, his dad will help him."

"That means Walker," Casey said. "Chuck will do anything that she asks him. It's pathetic. Maybe we should work on her."

"Not this time," Carina said. "It's true that he would do anything she asked. And you're even right about it being a little pathetic, in a cute sort of way. But there is no way she's going to try and talk him into fighting. Actually, it's the opposite. Sarah will only fight if Chuck asks her to. And if you think he will do anything for her, she is ten times worse. No, Chuck is the key."

"Great," Casey sighed. "And here I didn't think that I could feel any worse. Thank you for that. At least you're not sugar coating it. So what you're telling me is that our fate rests squarely on the shoulders of Chuck Bartowski?"

"Yup," Carina said with a grin.

"It apparently always has."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon was sitting on the edge of the bed while Ellie was treating his injury. Things were clearly tense. They hadn't said ten words to each other since they had been alone.

"Damn," Devon suddenly exclaimed as Ellie put in a stitch. "I felt that. Are you sure that you used enough Novocain?"

That actually broke some of the tension in Ellie's mind. "I guess it's true what they always say," she said with her first smile. "Doctors do make the worst patients. I stitched up Sarah's arm in almost the exact same spot this week, in a moving airplane, and she didn't say a single word. Don't worry. That was the last one."

"Good," he replied as he flexed his arm. "How many?"

"Seven," Ellie said. "Can we talk now?"

"Okay," Devon said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ellie was making a conscious effort trying to reign in her frustration. "Come on, Devon," she said as calmly as she could. "We've been watching you. I know that you're hurt about what happened with Cole. I saw you admit it to that Misty. Why won't you admit it to me?"

Devon sat and stared at her for a long moment. "I'm concerned," he finally admitted. "You clearly have doubts. Let's talk about that."

"Your tense is bad," Ellie replied sadly. "Yes, I'll admit I had doubts. I don't any more. And Devon, my doubts were never about you or about us. They were all about me. Cole was just the guy that was there at the time."

"So," Devon said. "You're going to tell me that you're not in love with Cole. That all this new aggression since you've been back is not just because you feel guilty?"

Ellie sighed. "I'm going to be completely honest here," she said. "Because I think you'll be able to relate. I understand how it could look to you. I do. But I'm not in love with Cole. I never once had a shred of that. Yes, he's a good friend. Yes, I love him as a friend. Yes, I find him attractive. Yes, under the right circumstances I could see myself with him. But, sweetie, he's not you. He never will be. Yes looking back, I guess that I was feeling guilty about what I did. So Sluty Ellie might have been an over-reaction on my part. I'm sorry about that."

"Of all the things that you could have apologized for," Devon asked incredulously, "that's the one that you pick?"

Ellie couldn't keep the smile from her face. "I'm sorry about a lot of things," she said. "For what's it worth, I really enjoyed being Sluty Ellie. I don't see her going away anytime soon."

"So you won't be upset if I have that same exact relationship with Misty?" Devon asked.

"Honestly?" Ellie asked. "I won't be wild about the idea. She's very pretty. She's also clearly interested in being more than platonic friends. And yes, I fully understand the hypocrisy in that statement. I'm not very proud of how foolish it makes me sound."

"Will you give her a chance?"Devonasked. "You really have nothing to worry about. Just like I have nothing to worry about with Cole. She's really a great kid. She understands the limits on our relationship. I'm really hoping that you two will become friends. I think that giving her a chance would be fair, don't you? If you're worried, you could end any doubt by fixing her up with someone. You love to play cupid anyway."

"Fine," Ellie sighed. "I'll try. But only for you. I'm not sure if I'm in a place to play cupid for her just yet." Then her face suddenly broke into a smile. "Unless she would be interested in Lester. Do you think she would?"

Devon's smile lit up the room. "Thank you," he said as he touched his lips to hers. The kissing quickly escalated into a full out necking session. "That's all I ask. At least Lester is a start. She's hoping for a cute doctor."

"Yeah," Ellie sighed. "I know that she is. That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

"Will you stop?" Devon asked. "She understands the boundaries. We'll keep looking. Now, how about we see if we can put some of that guilt to good use and find Sluty Ellie? I think that I might have an assignment or two for her. I've really missed her."

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah Watkins gradually was able to pry her eyes open. She was clearly lying in a bed. The room was semi-dark. She could feel that she wasn't wearing many clothes. "Where am I?" she said to herself.

"For the time being I think that question will have to go unanswered," a voice said from across the room.

Hannah opened her eyes fully and saw the older looking man sitting there in the dark. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Another question that will go unanswered for the moment," he said. "If you must, you can address me as sir. You are being held prisoner. Your immediate compliance to any order is demanded. You will have free reign within this room and the attached bathroom. You will not leave without permission. If you follow those simple rules, I promise you will be treated humanely."

Hannah looked more closely at the man. He didn't look to be much of a threat. In fact, he looked very mild mannered. He didn't appear to have a weapon of any kind. She may no longer have been one of the very top agents in the world but even just dressed in her bra and panties she could surely take this guy. So she sat on the side of the bed. "How are you going to stop me?" she asked with a grin.

Suddenly Hannah was knocked to the floor by a searing pain. Fortunately it lasted for only a moment and then was gone just as suddenly with no trace.

"I'm sorry that I had to do that to you," the man said. "Look at your ankle."

When Hannah looked down she saw that there was some sort of device attached to her ankle.

"That is an invention of mine," he said. "It works on the nervous system. I'm afraid that was the lowest setting. I'll still bet it was very painful. If you attempt to leave this room it will automatically activate. If you disobey any order, that will also be your punishment. There is no reason to be concerned. There are no long term side effects. Please do us both a favor and don't make me use it again. I hate that. In the morning I'll send Sarah in to ask you some questions. I expect candor. There is a lot that we know, but you can fill in some blanks."

Suddenly Hannah remembered her mission. "Sarah Walker?" she asked.

"Actually it's Sarah Bartowski now," the man said with a smile as he stood up to leave. "Just a piece of friendly advice, calling her Walker is a sure fire way to get on her bad side. And you've already got that one pretty much covered. Don't worry. I'll make sure that she doesn't kill you. That would be unsporting, wouldn't it? It might be fair if you were to meet her in the ring, one-on-one. If you're willing, we just might be able to arrange that."

Hannah looked at him and forced her most seductive smile. If she couldn't kick this guy's ass, maybe another tactic would work. So she just stood there, put her arms to her side, and allowed him to admire the view. "I'll fight her anytime," she said. "She took a cheap shot kick at me that I have to pay back." Then she softened her tone. "What would I have to do to get to take a shower? Trust me. Whatever it is I'll gladly do it. Are you the one who took my clothes off? You missed some. It was an honest mistake, they're pretty invisible. Maybe you'd like to correct that."

The man simply grinned. Apparently he saw through the weak attempt at seduction… and wasn't buying it. "Feel free to use the restroom any time you like," he said. "Don't worry about taking a shower. The device is waterproof. There is also water to drink. Are you hungry?"

Hannah just shook her head.

"Good," he said. "For now, get some rest."

"You're going to need it."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah had finally gotten Chuck into bed. To say that it had been a long tough night was somewhat of a ridiculous understatement. They were too emotionally exhausted to bother with anything like pajamas. They just numbly stripped down to Chuck's boxers and Sarah's panties and climbed between the sheets.

Sarah was trying to decide if she should try and get him to talk tonight, or just go to sleep and talk in the morning. But then the last thing she expected happened. Chuck rolled over and snuggled into her. Quickly, his hand found her breast.

Sarah heart sank. She instantly knew what this was, angry sex to deal with frustration. Bryce had pulled it on her a couple of times. And Sarah had to admit, it was her least favorite thing. There was absolutely nothing loving about it. It wasn't even really sex. It was closer to an assault, being pounded on to work off his frustration. She was surprised and more than a little disappointed that Chuck would go there. It was a side of him that she had never seen before. But if that's what he needed to get through this…

Naturally, it only took about ten seconds before Sarah was completely ashamed of herself for underestimating her amazing husband. He wasn't using her at all. If anything he was being more tender and loving than usual. And wow. It was hard to call it their hottest love-making. The other afternoon when they decided to try for a family probably took that honor. But it was by far the most intimate. And that made it the very best. In a month of amazing experiences for Sarah Bartowski, she had just found the number one, the very high point of her life. It was so soft and yet so intense. It was getting hard to know where she ended and he began. They were one in every possible, simply perfect sense.

After it was finally over, Chuck was still wrapped around her trying to catch his breath. "I love you," he finally said.

"I know you do," Sarah said. "But not half as much as I love you. Do you want to talk?"

Chuck paused for such a long time that Sarah was starting to think that he didn't, and that would have been more than okay. "I don't want to do this any more," he finally said softly, trying unsuccessfully to keep his voice from breaking.

Sarah knew instantly what he meant. "The intersect?" she asked softly.

Chuck nodded in the darkened room. "Does that make me a coward?" he asked. "Do you think less of me?"

"Chuck," Sarah said as she reached up and kissed him. "You're being ridiculous. How can you possibly even think something like that?"

"I just keep thinking that it might have been you," Chuck said as he clung to her. "I can't risk that any more. I'm sorry."

Sarah wanted to tell him that now he knew how she felt for the past two years. But that sounded far too accusatory for this situation, so she just kissed him again. "Why are you sorry?" she asked softly. "Chuck, being a parent and raising a family is just as important as being a spy. It's every bit as hard. I hope you have some ideas on what to do because honestly I have no clue how to go about it. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about, to anybody really, but especially not to me. I'm happy that you're quitting. I was against this from the beginning, remember?"

"I know," Chuck said. "But now I'm really feeling guilty. You're probably feeling pretty awful yourself. Look, I know that I've been childishly jealous of Bryce in the past. But you can trust me. I'm here for you. You don't have to be afraid of telling me anything because you're worried about how I'll react. I fully understand that Bryce was your first love and you watched him die tonight. It's perfectly natural to want to remember your times together at a time like this. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sarah had to blink pretty quickly to keep the tears from being noticeable. That's the last thing that she wanted. That would just give him the wrong impression. But wow. Her guy was setting aside his own horrible night and his own fears to be worried about her. How incredibly sweet was that? "I'm fine," she said. "Don't get me wrong. It was a horrible night. I'm sad that Bryce is dead. Of course I am. I know that you are too. But the truth is I'm more worried about you. Don't misunderstand. I do trust you. I'm not afraid to tell you anything. But you're just wrong about some things. Bryce was not my first love, not even close. You are. When are you ever going to start to believe that?"

But Chuck didn't back down. "Okay," he said. "I do believe that. Maybe I said it badly. But there must be some romantic moments between you and Bryce that pop into your head. The first time he told you that he loved you, the first time you made love, the first time he brought you flowers, stuff like that. All I'm saying is that it's okay for you to remember those things fondly tonight. I'll understand. I promise."

Sarah tried to speak a couple of times, but no words would come. She found that she couldn't quite blink away all the tears. "I know that you would," she finally said softly. "I get that, Chuck. I do. You don't have to keep proving that you're the sweetest guy in the world. I already knew that. But the sad truth is that you don't understand this at all. I know that I'm horrible with words and I'm not explaining it very well so I'll try again."

Sarah held up her hand to stop his protest with something of a growing smile. "I'm not hiding anything from you, sweetie," she continued. "Bryce and I were spies. We really didn't have a romantic relationship. We were partners. You just can't compare it to you and Jill. If anything, you would compare it to Casey and me. When I think of Bryce, all the things I think of are the missions. He was an amazing spy. Okay yes, Bryce and I have had sex a few times, but even then probably a lot less than you're assuming. I understand that in your mind, that translates to a romance. You just said it yourself. You described a bunch of romantic couple type moments. The problem is that they simply never happened. This is what I need you to understand. We never had a romance. Bryce never brought me flowers unless you count the hospital that time when he was feeling guilty. And if he ever had, I would have looked at him like he was nuts. We've never made love. We weren't in love. Comparing anything I ever had with Bryce to what we just experienced a few minutes ago is like comparing a little kid's first T-ball game to winning the Super Bowl. Someday, you'll hopefully understand that you're my hero. I know it sounds a little corny but it's true. And it has nothing to do with any stupid intersect or how many bad guys you defeat. You'll be just as much a hero to me being a dad and husband. I'm going to keep working on you until you do understand."

Chuck decided to let slide that she had just compared baseball to football. He knew what she meant. "So," he said with his own growing smile. "If I'm going to compare you and Bryce to you and Casey, how close have you come to having sex with Casey?"

"Careful," Sarah said in mock anger. "You're getting really close to seeing my flannel pajamas. If what we just finished wasn't so unbelievable and I wasn't looking forward so much to round two, you'd probably already be there."

Chuck just smiled. "It was just unbelievable,' he said. "You're right about that. It just seems to keep getting better and better. Is this ever going to get to be routine?"

Sarah's eyes got a twinkle that was noticeable even in the dark room. "I don't know," she said with another kiss. "I really hope so. I hope that we grow so comfortable with each other that it just happens on it's own. But enough talking. Chuck, what would it take to encourage you to stop talking about how much you love me and show me again? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

Chuck and Sarah's kissing slowly led into round two, slowly because there was no longer any reason to rush anything. There was no burning passionate need, no out of control fire that needed to be put out. Oh, make no mistake. That would still happen regularly. But tonight that was replaced by a bond between two lovers who no longer had anything to prove and now trusted each other completely. It's not that there wasn't passion. There clearly was plenty to spare. It was just that they had all night… and then some. Sarah was more than willing to lie there, surrender all control, and allow Chuck to set the pace. And Chuck wanted to make the moment last forever, so he was perfectly content with letting the fire slowly smolder for a while. Their tongues slowly and so intimately danced while their hands gently began to stoke that fire eventually into a white hot inferno.

Naturally neither knew anything about the future. They definitely weren't thinking in circle-of-life terms. They just knew that they loved each other with a ferocity that was hard to describe… and that both would do anything to help the other be happy, feel safe, secure, and always, always loved. It actually wasn't even until a couple of years later that they eventually would do the math and figure it out.

For exactly forty weeks from tonight, at just about this same time of the early morning, Chuck and Sarah would become parents for the first time when, at exactly seven pounds, little Bryce Steven Bartowski would take his first very noisy breath. Not everything would go perfectly in those forty weeks… by a long shot. That's just not the way life works, for anyone really, but especially not for those two. There were amazing highs and crushing lows. But all that would quickly fade away as Sarah held her son for the first time with Chuck, bursting with pride, looking on with approval.

He would be everything that Sarah always envisioned… but also very different. She always imagined their first son with his father's dark curls, but he would much too quickly for Sarah's liking, grow to look more like a Walker, sandy blonde, tall, and unbelievably devilishly handsome. But he was also very much a Bartowski, brilliant, quick witted, truly the nicest guy in the world, and all of that without a single ounce of arrogance. And of course, it didn't hurt anything that little Bryce would help his mom win a lobster dinner in her bet with Aunt Ellie… with four long years to spare.

So the way the circle of life worked out, even though they wouldn't realize it for a while yet, Chuck and Sarah were only really without a Bryce in their life for about three hours.

But that was long enough.

x-x-x-x-x


	25. Third Time is a Charm

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Third Time is a Charm**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah knew that she should wake up. Although if there was ever a time to sleep in, this was the day. It's just that to Sarah Bartowski, there really wasn't ever a good time to waste on the luxury of sleep. But the crisp clean sheets felt so good. The bed felt so safe. Her new husband felt so… That's when Sarah sat up and realized that Chuck was not in bed.

For a horrible moment she knew that Chuck had snuck off to fight Bryce and had been captured. But then she worked through the events in her mind. That was just a bad dream. The mission had been mostly a success. Devon had been rescued. As Sarah actually woke up and worked through the events of last night, she finally remembered. Chuck had finally agreed to stop trying to be the hero. They were going to concentrate on raising a family. So she collapsed back on the pillow in relief.

That's when the smell of cooking hit her nose and reminded her how hungry she was. So she threw on her nightshirt and the dreaded robe that made her look like she was sixty and opened the door.

The sight that hit her was purely out of one of her daydream fantasies. Her extended family was gathered around the dining room having breakfast. Okay, so Dad and Chuck were the only two that were officially part of her family. There was no sign of Ellie orDevon. But that didn't really matter. And there were even a couple of images that, under other circumstances, might have caused some tension. After all, both Carina and Misty were dressed almost exactly alike. Actually, it was probably more accurate to say they were undressed almost exactly alike. In the bright dining room, those t-shirts that were serving as makeshift pajamas really weren't hiding much. Honest people might have a polite debate over which of the two was more attractive. But almost all would agree that both were stunning.

Chuck and Misty had also apparently hit it off quickly, if the way she was sitting there resting her head on her fist with her elbow on the table, hanging off his every word was any indication. They were all laughing at something he had just said. Okay, so if Sarah was being completely honest, there might have been a pang or two watching them, especially given Chuck's well documented proclivity towards brunettes. But mostly it was a happy vision. It looked to be, by all accounts, a normal family breakfast. Sarah thought for a long moment about ducking back in the bedroom, losing the robe and finding one of Chuck's t-shirts to be barely there as well. After all, if they really wanted to have a see-through t-shirt contest in front of Chuck, Sarah knew that her… umm… entry would be totally competitive. And if Dad hadn't been sitting there she probably would have. As it was she just stood there and watched for a long moment.

But whatever jealous pangs she might have had were quickly answered as Sarah saw Chuck's eyes light up when he noticed her standing there. He jumped right up and went to her. "Good morning, beautiful," he said. "You're up. Come and have some breakfast."

Okay, so Sarah was starved. And that pile of blueberry pancakes was calling her name. But first, she needed to mark her territory. So she grabbed Chuck and planted a kiss on him that was worthy of someone who had been married for a day and a half. Chuck was normally pretty shy about PDA, but not this time. He returned her kiss with a gusto that frankly surprised her.

Naturally, Casey was fully supportive of the newlywed's show of affection. "Hey," he yelled. "We're trying to eat here."

Sarah's first order of business was to eat. There were so many wonderful choices that Sarah really didn't know where to start. There were the aforementioned blueberry pancakes. A plate of bacon strips sat next to them. On the other side there was a bowl of fresh strawberries and a pile of toast with an assortment of jellies. So she just grabbed a couple of pancakes and started buttering them. "Who did all the cooking?" she asked. "This really looks great."

"Misty," Chuck said with a grin. "Apparently she grew up on a farm."

"Where are Ellie and Devon?"

Chuck and Carina just looked at each other trying to keep in the laugh. Finally Carina answered. "I think that they're still praying."

"Praying?" Sarah asked with a confused grin.

"Yeah," Carina answered. "Misty had the room next to them. She says that she heard Ellie calling 'Oh God' all night."

Misty was plainly enjoying the fact that she had been so warmly accepted into the group, and especially the extra attention that her cooking was currently getting. She jumped up. "How do you like your eggs?" she called to Sarah over her shoulder on her way to the kitchen. "Scrambled? Over easy? Poached?"

"Over easy sounds great," Sarah replied. "But don't go to any trouble."

"Don't be silly," Misty said as she was already breaking an egg into the pan. "You're on your honeymoon. You should be a little pampered, right? Congratulations, by the way."

Okay, so Sarah was famished. That might have had something to do with it. But she had never tasted anything so wonderful in her life as those pancakes with the warmed maple syrup. She had finished about a half of one when Misty sat a plate of eggs in front of her. At first, she worried about looking ladylike. But she was simply too hungry, and the food tasted far too good to pretend. She attacked the food with a ferocity that had Chuck grinning.

"You must really be hungry," Chuck said as he poured her a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Then he went over to the coffeepot and poured her a cup of coffee and added the two teaspoons of sugar that she liked. While Chuck was doing that Casey passed the plate of bacon to her.

Whatever tiny bout of jealousy had been there a moment ago was long gone as Chuck sat next to her and affectionately rubbed her back as she ate. "Wow," she said with a laugh as she placed two strips on her plate. "I could really get used to being pampered like this." Then she turned to her incredibly cute husband. "Why wouldn't I be hungry? We spent all night working up an appetite."

Chuck's blush was so adorable that she decided to let him off the hook. She turned to Steven. "So, Dad, what is on the agenda for today?"

Steven sat down his own cup of coffee to answer her. "Busy day today," he said. "We have to figure out what their reaction is going to be to last night's defeat. I have to imagine that Daniel Shaw has figured out by now what really happened last night. He isn't going to appreciate being taken for a fool all that well."

"You would think that he would be used to it by now," Carina piped in. "Apparently it happens semi-regularly."

"He is still dangerous," Steven warned. "It would be a serious mistake to underestimate him. He is now desperate. And desperate people are unpredictable. There are a lot of very bad things that he can still do. That reminds me. I have a job for you. I think you might enjoy it. In the barn there is somewhat of a makeshift shooting range. Could you and Major Casey take Devon, Ellie, and Misty out and teach them how to handle a gun? There are an assortment of handguns and ammunition out there. I hate guns, but I'd feel much more comfortable if they at least knew which end of one that the bullets come out. As much trouble as we seem to be getting into lately, it might come in handy."

Sarah sat down her fork. She couldn't ever remember feeling so full. Finally she had eaten enough to make it till lunch… three days from now. "Actually, Dad," she said. "I wouldn't mind getting from range time in myself. I missed some shots last night…"

Steven smiled at the perfectionist in Sarah coming through. "Major Casey tells me that there is nothing wrong with your shooting," he said soothingly. "He also tells me that both you and Chuck performed brilliantly last night. I'm sorry. Maybe you can take him out there later. But I have another couple of tasks for you two this morning. I need for you to interrogate the prisoner."

"Prisoner?" Sarah questioned. "What prisoner?"

"Oh yeah," Casey said. "You don't know, do you? Last night we had room in the trunk for one of the tranqed agents. So we brought her back with us."

Sarah's eyes got big. "Her?" she asked.

"Yup," Casey said with a grin. "Hannah Watkins."

Sarah stood up, sending the chair she was sitting in flying. She stomped to her room and came right back out carrying her gun. "Where is she?" she demanded.

Steven blocked her path. "You're not going to kill her," he said.

"She killed Bryce," Sarah said with a deadly cold voice. "Now where is she?"

"Sarah," Steven snapped. "You're not killing a prisoner in cold blood. We're not going to become that, not while I'm in charge. Surrender your weapon."

Sarah just glared at him. So he raised his voice. "Now!" he demanded.

There were only three people in the world that could have yelled at Sarah like that and gotten away with it. Fortunately, all three had the same last name and her new dad was one of them. So after a very tense moment, she finally relaxed and handed the gun to him.

Steven stopped the totally expected reaction from Chuck with a look and stepped up to a clearly emotional Sarah. As soon as he had placed her gun on the table, he put his arm around her. "I'm very sorry that I raised my voice to you," he said softly. "Trust me. I hated doing that. Sarah, I understand what you're feeling. But we're not killing a defenseless person. Promise me that I can trust you and I'll return your gun."

Sarah took a moment to gather her composure. "I promise," she finally said.

"Thank you," Steven said as he handed her back the gun. "I feel very badly about being harsh with you. Someday I'll explain why I reacted so strongly and maybe you'll understand better. I have some skeletons in my closet too."

"You don't have to apologize," Sarah said. "You're right."

"Let me make it up to you anyway," Steven said with a smile. "I have another task for you and your new husband this morning that you might like better."

Sarah looked at the sparkle in his eyes. Suddenly all the previous tenseness in the room disappeared like it never had been there in the first place. Sarah couldn't keep the grin from spreading across her own face. "What's that?" she asked.

Steven grinned right back. "You'll see," he said.

"The third time is a charm."

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw had just experienced one hell of a night. He still hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep. It had been an unprecedented disaster. He had lost nine agents in the attack last night. Eleven if you counted Larkin and Watkins. None of the agents that survived knew much about what had happened. Only that they were ambushed by a force that was clearly more than just Walker and Casey. There were at least two other agents. And when they woke up, everyone was gone, including the prisoners. Larkin was also plainly helping them. At least they knew where he was. His body had shown up at the closest hospital and was now in custody. Nobody knew where Watkins was. And frankly, if Shaw could have found her right now, he would have shot her himself. He should have had his head examined putting her in charge of such an important assignment.

But he didn't have the luxury of thinking about that right now. Other than failing to capture Bartowski again, the worst thing about last night's battle was that it had taken place in such a public place. All of his energies so far had been spent on the cleanup and cover story. News of the battle had already gone national. Of course, nobody in the press could learn the real reason. Any publicity would be fatal. Fortunately, they had already planted the seeds of issues with several drug gangs in the press a few weeks ago to cover any possible gun battles in the capture of Casey and Walker. So the press was apparently buying that last night was a flare up of that problem.

Speaking of problems, Shaw had a big one. He had just gotten his ass royally handed to him by the Vice President. Fortunately he was able to claim the he was too busy to meet in person. That was actually true – and it saved an embarrassing face to face dressing down. But his language on the phone was somewhat less than pleasant. One good thing about the situation. He had finally given the approval to launch the full operation. Apparently he was getting desperate as well.

So his phone ringing was the very last thing that he needed at this time. "What," he snapped as he stabbed at the button with his finger angrily.

"You stood me up," she said. "I'm not used to men standing me up, especially ones who were expecting to see me in sexy underwear and maybe even less. In fact, it's a first for me. It's frankly more than a little insulting. I was completely devastated… until my new husband swooped in and picked up the pieces. Now it seems that you have some fences to mend."

"Agent Walker," Shaw sighed. "Very funny. You've gone too far this time."

"My name is Sarah Bartowski," Sarah said with no hint of humor in her voice. "Trust me. Call me Walker one more time and you're going to see just how far I'm willing to go."

Shaw was too tired and pissed off to play any games. "Why did you call?" he asked. "To gloat?"

"I'm not going to gloat," Sarah said with a smile. "My incredible husband is going to do that. You did say that you wanted to talk to him. Do you still want to?"

"Of course," Shaw said. "Is he available?"

"Agent Shaw," Chuck said trying to keep from laughing. "Sarah tells me that you'd like to see her modeling the red negligee that she bought with her CIA credit card. After you stood her up, she decided to model it for me instead. So thank you for that. I have to tell you, it was amazing. It was well worth every dime that you spent on it. It was actually a shame to take it off. Apparently you worked her up. She was a wild thing last night. I suppose I should thank you for that as well. But then again, now that I think about it, she's something of a wild thing pretty much every night, so maybe you didn't have anything to do with it. I'm sorry about the nasty battle thing. I just had to come up with a plot to rescue my sister so that she could write me a prescription for some vitamins just so I could hope to keep up with Sarah. By the way, if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm totally not."

"Very funny," Shaw said. "I suppose you're thinking that you're pretty smart."

"Well," Chuck said thoughtfully. "I'm clearly smarter than you are. In fact based on recent events I'm thinking that the smartness pecking order goes something like - me, the average chimpanzee, a box of rocks, then you."

Sarah had to turn away, or she would have gotten them both laughing.

"I'd be careful," Shaw said. "Don't get too smart. There is still a chance to make a deal where we all win."

"A deal?" Chuck asked incredulously with another laugh. "Like the most generous one that you proposed yesterday where I become your slave doing all of your disgusting dirty work and my wife of two days becomes your personal plaything doing even more disgusting dirty work? I'm sorry, Agent Shaw. Call me old fashioned. Assuming that you were going to live long enough to make a deal with, even assuming that we could trust a single word that you said, I'm sort of liking the idea that the only man who is ever going to see my wife naked will be me. Casey was just telling us that we should be honored. After all, for someone like you to make a series of mind-numbingly stupid mistakes just for the chance to spend one night with her. I guess that could be considered a compliment of sorts. Sorry, I'm not really in a place to be able to look at it like that. To me, it just makes you look pathetic."

"I don't think that you understand," Shaw said. "You're on the run… with the entire nation looking for you. It's going to get progressively worse for you. It's only a matter of time before you're back in custody. We both know it. Okay, look. I'm sorry that you had to hear our conversation yesterday. That was unfortunate. It won't happen again."

"I'm afraid it's you that doesn't understand," Chuck said angrily. "Sarah really doesn't need some macho tough guy to defend her honor. She's plenty bad-ass all on her own. She actually takes care of me far more than I do her. That's good because I'm not really that guy. But you just made a fatal mistake. You tried to take advantage of the most wonderful person in the whole world. I couldn't begin to describe to you how much I love her. It's hopeless. For one thing, even to try I'd have to use some big words. I'm not really sure what she sees in me but I've learned to stop questioning and just enjoy being the luckiest man in the world. All I can do in return is to love her as fiercely as she loves me. And that's exactly what I intend to do."

"Mr. Bartowski," Shaw said.

But Chuck wasn't finished, by a long shot. "And do you know the real kicker here?" he interrupted pointedly. "The really annoying thing is that this amazing woman who I worship has dedicated her entire life to the very same cause you yourself claim to represent. Of all people, you should honor and respect her more than most. She's made sacrifices that you can't begin to imagine. So how do you repay that? You try and use her love and dedication to make her submit to you in the most evil way possible. If there really is a devil, Agent Shaw, then you're his PR guy. I couldn't possibly let you live after that, much less make a deal with you. I couldn't live with myself. Let's get something crystal clear. You are never, ever going to touch her. I'll die before I allow that to happen. You wanted to make this personal, well be careful what you wish for. It's now personal. I'm now going to do whatever it takes to send you to hell to meet your new boss. I'm going to start by defeating your pathetic plot. Then I'm going to stand aside and watch my lovely wife pump bullet after bullet into what used to be your head. Then we're going to go out for a nice dinner and after that, who knows. Well, actually I do know, but I'm trying to be delicate. The good news is, based on recent history, I like our chances."

"I'm afraid you're wrong about that," Shaw said softly. "If you don't think that I still have cards left to play, you're miscalculating. Enemies can become friends, Chuck, especially ones who share common objectives. It happens all the time. If you don't trust me, who would you trust?"

"We'd trust The President," Sarah said. "If you can arrange for us to talk to him, we'd be interested."

"I can't do that," Shaw said. "But I can set up something with the Vice President. Would that work?"

Sarah stopped the exclamation about to come out of Chuck with a look. "Maybe," she said.

"I'm going to turn on my camera and write a number on my white board," Shaw said. "Do yourself a favor. Negotiate while you still can."

"Thanks for the advice," Sarah said sarcastically. "We'll take it under advisement. If you'll excuse me now, my incredible husband just said some very sweet things. I'm going to thank him in private. I think we'll save some time and skip the red negligee. That's more a nighttime thing, don't you think?"

As soon as the call ended, Chuck and Sarah fell into each other's arms laughing. "Do you really want to talk to the Vice President?" Chuck asked when he could finally speak. "It sounds like he is just as bad as Shaw."

"I don't know," Sarah said. "Let's see what Dad says."

When Chuck got up to go to the door, he felt Sarah grab his wrist and pull him back. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

Chuck's brow narrowed in confusion. "I'm going to ask Dad," he said. "I thought you just said…"

Sarah interrupted him with a kiss. "Not yet," she said, shaking her head as she fumbled with his belt buckle.

"Damn," Chuck said with a grin. "I just got dressed. You couldn't think of this twenty minutes ago?

"I was thinking about it twenty minutes ago," Sarah said with her own grin. "And forty minutes ago, and sixty minutes ago… it's pretty much all I've been thinking about for the past month. I'm beginning to worry that I might have a problem. But my incredible husband just said some very sweet things."

"I'm going to thank him in private."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon and Ellie finally got out of church and came down and ate breakfast. If Ellie wasn't all that enthusiastic about sitting there listening to everyone praise Misty's cooking, neither was admittedly all that enthusiastic about learning how to shoot a gun, Ellie especially. In fact, if the order hadn't come directly from dad, she would have flatly refused.

Casey spent a few minutes taking a gun apart, showing them how the components worked together, and putting it back together. One thing was for sure, this was not just a barn next to an ordinary farmhouse. There was a full sized shooting range, complete with targets on a conveyor. It was every bit as useable as any CIA range, not as fancy perhaps, but fully functional. And the assortment of handguns and ammunition lying on that table could have outfitted a small army. For someone who claimed to not like guns, Orion had far more than his share. Casey made a mental note to get Sarah and Carina alone and ask them about what it meant.

Carina took the task of showing them how to stand, hold, and shoot the gun. "It's very important to relax," she said as she stood and fired five rounds into the target. Carina was about an average CIA agent when it came to shooting. All five of her shots hit the target, but only a couple were in the kill circle. Sarah would have done a little better. But Casey was, by far, the best shot on the team. "A common mistake is to jerk the trigger. You have to squeeze it. Apply equal pressure to your entire hand."

Devon actually did okay for his first time shooting a handgun. Only a couple of his shots hit the target, but his form was pretty good. There were a couple of minor things to correct. But with a little practice, he could be adequate.

Ellie on the other hand, was a total disaster. Her first shot found herself sitting on her ass with no idea where she was. It took a lot of talking before she would try again. Fortunately, both Casey and Carina were actually very patient instructors. Sarah's screaming style would have quickly created a very tense situation. But finally, Carina was able to talk her through how to stand and what to expect. She eventually got to the point where she could take a shot and remain standing. But she had no hope of hitting the target.

Carina looked to Misty, who was standing off to the side looking bored. "Come on, Misty," she said, insistently, but gently. "I know that you don't like this. But please just try. It might save your life someday."

Ellie smirked. Misty wasn't her favorite person to begin with. And stealing Ellie's thunder by cooking breakfast had her in even a worse mood. Okay, yes, it was delicious, but that was beside the point. Not to mention that it was completely embarrassing finding herself sitting on the ground after that first shot. Her chest was even still hurting a little from where the recoil had slammed the gun into it. They say the misery loves company. After all, she shouldn't be the only one to taste humiliation in front of everybody. "Yeah," she said. "Let's see Misty try. If you can do better than I did, you can keep the bra that you stole from me in Vegas. It is my favorite but maybe you should get used to wearing one."

Misty didn't respond to Ellie's clear taunt. She just stepped to the table and looked over the assortment of weapons lying there. She had her hand on a Beretta for a long moment, until she finally spotted a Smith and Wesson. Frankly, Casey was surprised that she picked up the correct clip because they were just lying there in a pile. But he was even more surprised when she examined it carefully and then slammed it into place correctly. With Devon and Ellie, they had taken all of the rounds out of the clip except one. But before he could react, Misty stepped up to the line, clicked off the safety, and fired five rounds, all of them in the very middle of the kill circle. She then clicked the safety back on, ejected the clip, and wordlessly placed the clip and still smoking weapon back on the table.

Casey's mouth was hanging open. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" he asked in amazement. Truthfully, he would have struggled himself to repeat the pattern that Misty had just placed on the target. "That was amazing."

"My dad was an Iowa State Trooper," she said. "He would take me shooting from the time I was fourteen. I had to be able to do that before he would let me take the car by myself. I might hate guns, but I needed the car."

"Wow," Carina said with a smile. "Where is your dad now? We could really use him."

"He was killed when I was twenty," Misty said sadly. "It was a routine traffic stop. Except that the teen was driving a stolen car and didn't want to go to jail."

"I'm sorry," Carina said.

"Don't be," Misty replied. "It was a long time ago. I miss him, but it would be a stretch to say we were extremely close. Dad was pretty old school. He didn't approve of a lot of my choices… in clothes… or boys. If he would have ever seen me at work in Vegas, it would have gotten pretty ugly."

"It sounds like he was just being a dad," Casey said.

"How did I know you'd say that?" Misty said with her first attempt at a smile. "You and he would have agreed on a lot of things. But Casey, if you ever have a daughter, do her a favor. You can't protect her by living her life for her. Shooting was actually the time we got along best with each other. I think that he paid for my first year at Iowa State by betting his buddies that they couldn't outshoot me."

Carina smiled devilishly. "No one is to tell Sarah about this," she said. "I'm thinking I might make a little bet of my own."

Misty smiled, and then she turned to Ellie. "Speaking of bets, you can have the bra back," she said with no attempt at humor. "It's actually a little too small for me. If I'm going to learn to wear one again, I don't think I'll start with a trainer."

Ellie clearly blushed, but she didn't respond.

"You can also keep the cocktail waitress uniform," Misty continued. "I won't be needing it ever again. And besides…"

"It's the perfect outfit for someone who's feeling guilty."

x-x-x-x-x


	26. Operation Phoenix

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Operation Phoenix**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah wanted to talk to Dad. Not only to brief him on the call with Shaw, but to tell him about Chuck's decision. Steven wanted to get the whole team together anyway so he took the occasion to gather them all in the family room.

Misty hung outside the room for a long moment, unsure of what to do. That's when Chuck stepped up to her. "Hey," he said with a smile. "Are you coming in?"

Misty looked around tentatively. "I'm not sure," she said. "Am I supposed to? It looks like a meeting. I'm not a spy. I'm not part of the family."

Chuck playfully grabbed her hand and led her into the room. "Not a spy?" he asked incredulously. "I just saw you con one of the best agents in the world. You're more of a spy than I am."

Sarah smiled as she watched the scene play out. In another time and place, maybe as recently as just yesterday, seeing Chuck holding another beautiful woman's hand would have had her reaching for a knife. But today she knew exactly what this was. He wasn't flirting with her. He didn't even realize that it might look like that to her. It was just another example of the nicest guy in the whole world doing his thing. So that allowed her own smile to Misty to be warm and genuine. "That's right," she said as Chuck sat down beside her with Misty on his other side. "And as far as being part of the family… you are now. We just adopted you."

Steven waited until everyone was seated, but he clearly was in charge and didn't want to waste any time. "We have some decisions to make," he started the meeting by saying. "I'm afraid that no matter what we decide here today, that some of your lives are going to be changed forever."

Sarah knew that Chuck's decision of last night would drive the rest of the discussion, so she wanted to get it on the table. "Excuse me, Dad," she said. "Chuck and I have decided…" Then her voice trailed off as she realized that perhaps this wasn't her place to say. But when she nervously glanced at him, his warm smile told her to continue. "We want the Intersect removed. We're going to stop fighting and concentrate on starting a family."

There was a mixed reaction to the news. There were a few smiles and a few groans. But it was actually Carina who spoke up. "Is that really practical?" she asked. "We are being hunted by an incredibly powerful organization. Assuming that we're all mentally ready to become civilians, are our enemies going to allow us to simply disappear? I'm sorry, Steven. I know this probably isn't my place…"

But Steven's smile was warm and friendly. "Of course it's your place," he said. "Carina, we're talking about the rest of your life here. How could it not be your place? Your concern is also genuine. But to answer your question, yes. I do believe it is practical. I've made some arrangements where we can all have new identities. I don't want to say too much until we actually pull the trigger. But we have more than enough resources to live our lives comfortably."

"Even with the entire country looking for us," Casey interrupted skeptically.

If Steven was offended by Casey's more than healthy skepticism, he didn't show it. "It wouldn't be the entire country," he said calmly. "They don't have that power and they never will. In fact, they themselves don't want any publicity. They fear that if we became infamous it would just give us enough credibility to expose them. I'll freely admit that I'm not completely sure what The Ring thinks they are going specifically accomplish with this plot. Yes, if they assassinate The President, they will control the Presidency… and with that be the Commandeer in Chief and control the military. Okay, so The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. But he isn't a dictator. He doesn't run the country. I suspect that for the vast majority of Americans, not much will change. He still has to at least pretend to follow the constitution. He still answers to Congress. He still has to run for re-election in three years. The political landscape of the country will not have changed. In a free society, we will be able to blend in with the millions. The number of people actively looking for us will actually be very small. They will grow tired of the search quickly. Indeed, they will have their own problems. If we keep a very low profile with some simple precautions, different hair styles and color, perhaps some facial hair, we should be fine."

Carina raised her hand. "I really don't think I want any facial hair," she said facetiously. "Can I have bigger boobs instead?"

It was Ellie who responded. "Are we talking fake boobs here?" she asked. "Or are you going to go the natural route?"

Carina looked at her questioningly. "The natural route?" she asked.

"Having a baby, silly," Ellie replied playfully.

Sarah quickly joined the sport. "It would be the perfect disguise," she said with a grin. "Nobody would ever believe that it could possibly be Carina carrying a baby. They wouldn't give her a second look." Then she turned to where Carina was sitting. "Do you have a father picked out? After all, you've been diligently auditioning candidates for the past fifteen years."

It was hard to make Carina blush, but that did the trick. "Definitely fake," was all she replied with a dirty look towards her friend.

Steven joined in the laughter. "Yes, Carina," he said as soon as the laughter had died down. "You can have any size that you're comfortable with, as long as you don't point them at me, and we don't tell my wife about this conversation."

Casey clearly wasn't convinced. He also wasn't yet at the place to be able to joke about it. "Don't you think that we should find out exactly what their plan is before we make any decisions?" he asked.

"Relax, Major," Steven said. "I agree. We need to find out more about their specific detailed agenda before we make any permanent plans. Chuck and Sarah are going to ask the prisoner some questions. I doubt that she'll answer any, but it's worth the chance. Sarah also tells me that Shaw offered to let her talk with the V.P."

"We just might take him up on that."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon was… well, he was quite frankly pissed. He was doing a slow burn over Ellie and Misty's sniping at each other in the barn. And the longer the meeting lasted, the angrier he got, until he was finally at the boiling point. That was unusual, because he didn't get visibly angry very often, but this was a notable exception. As soon as the meeting was over, he more or less dragged both ladies to the screened in front porch. "Seriously?" he demanded. "You both promised me that you would honestly try to get along. Is what I just witnessed in the barn what I can expect from you in the future?"

Both girls were a little surprised to see Devon so angry and more than a little unsettled at being chastised so openly. Misty had never seen him like this, but she had to admit, it wasn't unattractive… at all. Ellie had certainly seen him angry before, but never really directed at her so overtly. So both held their tongues. And that was fine anyway because the question was clearly rhetorical. He didn't give them a chance to respond even if they had wanted to. "I can't force you to be friends," he just as angrily continued his rant. "But it sounds like we're going to be together for some time. I'm not going to live my life constantly listening to you two bickering at each other like you're thirteen freaking years old. It's beyond annoying."

Ellie and Misty just looked at each other. Both were clearly embarrassed.

Devon took a long moment and calmed himself with some deep breaths. "Look," he finally said as he stood up. "I'm sorry that I got so mad but we have to work this out. You're both so amazing. Ellie, we're going to have a family together. Misty, you're my best friend. There is absolutely no reason for you to be competitive. I love you both. Please take a minute and talk about this. You both promised me that you would try. I expect both of you to keep your word."

When Devon left, Misty and Ellie just glared at each other for a long while. Finally, Ellie broke the uneasy silence. "We were watching you the whole time," she said. "I saw you walking around topless, pushing your boobs in his face. Tell me that you weren't trying to seduce him - that you don't want to be with him. Why should I have to accept that? That's why I don't like you."

Misty didn't give a single inch. "Okay, you have a point," she replied. "I was absolutely trying to seduce him. You're right about that. I think that Devon is pretty much perfect. There was a time when I was actively trying to figure out a way to take him away from you. And you're also right that you shouldn't have to accept that. So I'm sorry that happened. But if you were watching us, you surely saw that I came to realize that he is in love with you, and that's not going to change. So let me say this as plainly as I can. I've moved on. Devon and I are friends. Yes, I love him. I'm insanely protective of him, but as a friend. I'm really not prepared to apologize about that. I do want to make sure that you understand that I respect your position as his future wife. You should know that you have nothing to fear romantically from me. The simple fact is I couldn't take him away from you even if I wanted too. That's what you don't seem to get. You have the greatest guy in the world. He is so fiercely in love with you that he is willing to take your crap. And yet you treat him like dirt. Quite frankly, that's why I don't like you."

Ellie's face instantly turned red. She knew that Misty had a point. But there was no way she was going to back down either. "I don't treat him like dirt," she protested.

"Really?" Misty asked incredulously. "Going to some exotic resort and screwing another guy? Then telling him that he has to accept it? That pretty much sounds like dirt to me. What's your definition?"

"That's really none of your business," Ellie said hotly. "That's between Devon and me."

"Of course it's my business," Misty replied just as hotly. "It's absolutely my business. Sarah's your best friend, right?"

Ellie nodded, too angry to speak.

"Are you telling me that if you suspected Chuck was cheating on her, that you wouldn't be pissed?" Misty demanded. "Are you going to say that you wouldn't confront him?" Then without waiting for any reply she pushed on. "Why wouldn't I do the same for my best friend?"

That actually broke some of the tension. "Okay," Ellie said with a sigh. "Yes, I would stick up for my friend. You have a point. But you're also wrong about what happened. I didn't screw another guy. It just wasn't like that. It was far more complicated. I could really use your help in making Devon understand that. I know that this might sound self serving, but if you claim to love him, that would help him. Don't you want that?"

Misty was surprised by that argument. She paused for a long moment to form a reply. "Maybe," she finally said. "I'll admit that you have a good point. I'd love to help him through this. It would be a lot easier for me to help him if I believed you. My problem is that I honestly don't."

"I know," Ellie said sadly. "I don't expect you to understand. For what it's worth, in your shoes I'd be thinking the same thing. I'm not exactly proud of what happened in Cancun. But I didn't screw anybody. I'm telling the truth about that. In some ways, it would have been easier to explain if I had. I'm really not emotionally prepared to talk to you about the specifics quite yet. But the real truth is that it had nothing to do with Devon. It was all about me. The last thing in the world that I want to do is to hurt him. I feel horrible about that. I do love him."

Misty carefully studied Ellie trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. The last thing that she expected was contriteness from her. Maybe there was more to this story than she realized. But she still wasn't convinced. "So do I," she said. "Look, it's clear that we both have honest issues with each other. I don't see that changing anytime soon. But it's important to Devon for us not to openly fight. So why don't we just agree to stay out of each other's way as much as possible? When we're forced to be together, maybe we can make a conscious effort to be civil to each other. I'll try if you will."

Ellie just nodded. "Okay," was all she said.

x-x-x-x-x

Hannah looked up as Sarah entered the room. Of course it was long past the time when she would be expected to get dressed. But she knew that showing as much skin as possible might give her some advantage in her upcoming battle of wits with Agent Walker. And that particular pull of the slot machine hit triple sevens when she saw Chuck follow Sarah into the room.

Hannah made no attempt to keep the smirk off her face as Chuck saw how she was dressed. How she wasn't dressed was more accurate. Her bra and matching bikini briefs were so shear that they hardly qualified as garments. She had forgotten how cute he was when he blushed. And this one was major. It was amazing how red he turned as he bashfully averted his gaze. Even better for Hannah's purposes was that Walker clearly made note of his reaction. She was trying hard to keep the green out of her face, but Hannah knew. She had seen that look far too many times, from too many women. It was hard to believe that such a hard core agent with the reputation of Sarah Walker would allow herself to fall for any man. But she clearly had a weakness. Using it to bait her might be a bit of fun. "Hi, Chuck," she said cheerfully. "I've really missed you."

"Don't you think you should get dressed?" Chuck asked.

"Why Chuck," Hannah said facetiously. "Surely, there's no reason to be embarrassed. I do believe this is actually the very same bra that you had your hand inside, just a few days ago. Don't you remember? I sure do. It felt great. You really have a nice touch. I wouldn't mind going for that again. What do you say? Get rid of Blondie here and let's see where that takes us."

Sarah tried to change the subject. "Enough," she said firmly. "For one thing, we came in here to ask you some questions, not listen to your B.S. banter. For another, if you could get all the hands that have been inside that bra in the same place, you could invade Europe."

Hannah turned her gaze towards Sarah. "That might be true," she said with no hint of humor. "But there are some hands you just remember more than others. Surely you know that, Agent Walker. You have the reputation of having had a hand or two inside your bra as well. Don't you think that Chuck as a special touch?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes, but she didn't respond to Hannah's clear attempt to bait her. "Let's get down to our questions," she said firmly. "Shall we?"

But Hannah was in no mood to give up her sport so easily. "Screw you," she said dismissively. "You're delusional. Like I'm really going to answer any of your stupid questions. You know better than that, Agent Walker." Then she turned to Chuck with a smile. "Now, on the other hand, if you were to leave and Chuck here was to ask me some questions, he might just be able to find a way to get me to talk."

Sarah seriously gritted her teeth. "My name is Sarah Bartowski," she hissed. "Call me Walker again, and it's you and me."

Hannah grinned. "Yeah," she said. "That old guy said that you might be talked into getting into the ring. Anytime."

"How about right now?"

"You do understand that I was kickboxing champ of my academy class?" Hannah asked with a smirk. "If we get in that ring, don't expect me to pull any punches."

"Oh," Sarah said with somewhat of her own grin. "By all means, try your very best."

"How would you like to make this interesting?"

"I'm listening."

Hannah eyed Sarah curiously. "Let's see how confident you really are," she said. "I don't know a lot. But if you win, I'll truthfully answer any question you have. If I win, Chuck spends the night with me. Don't worry, Chuck. I'll make sure you have a really good time. I'll even take off the bra this time."

Sarah stopped Chuck's protest with a look. "My husband is not a prize to win or lose in a bet," she said with a shake of her head. "That's not what marriage is about. Even if you are sure you're going to win. Besides, you had him for a whole week. You took your best shot. How far did you get… when he wasn't following my explicit instructions and playing you for a fool that is? By the way, thanks for falling for that and letting him tie you up. Plan B would have been a bit more uncomfortable."

For the first time the smug look left Hannah's face. "So what do I get when I win?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"How about if you win, we let you go?" Sarah asked calmly, but with something of her own smug look.

"You would let me go?" Hannah asked skeptically. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Sarah said. "Other than the obvious one. You're not going to win. We'll blindfold you so you don't know our location. But you'll be free to go running back to Shaw."

"I imagine he'll have something he'll want to say to you."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey waited for Carina outside the room for some time after the meeting was over. "I saw you talking to Orion," he said as soon as she walked up. "It looked pretty serious. Is something wrong?"

"Not really," Carina said casually. "I just asked him for my own bedroom."

Casey paused for a long moment. "Have I done something wrong?" he finally asked. "Maybe I've offended you in some way?"

For the life of her, Carina couldn't figure out what Casey was getting at. Then it suddenly hit her. "Don't be stupid," she finally said with a playful punch to his arm. "I'm not mad at you. In fact, if we have a minute, let's go upstairs and I'll show you how much I'm not mad at you. That actually doesn't sound half bad."

"Then why the separate rooms?" Casey asked, clearly confused.

"I'm doing this for you," Carina said with a laugh. "Look, I understand that you're not looking for a relationship where we're exclusive or romantic. I get that. I'm not really looking for that either. It's better this way. We can still get together when we want, but we're both free from any of that ridiculous romantic stuff. It's the perfect spy relationship."

"So," Casey said with somewhat of his own growing smile. "You're telling me that I should cancel the flowers and chocolates that I ordered?"

"I think so," Carina said, still laughing. "At least the flowers. I could really go for a piece of chocolate."

Casey joined her laughing for a long moment, but then he got serious. "Thanks for understanding," he said.

"She's very pretty," Carina said. "Do you want me to talk to her for you? I can be a great wingman."

"Who? Are you talking about Misty?" Casey asked in amazement. "She's just a baby."

That got Carina laughing again. "She's actually a year older than I am," she said. "Don't kid a kidder, Casey. After seeing her shoot, you could barely walk out of the barn. Don't worry about me. Someday soon I'll expect you to return the favor."

Casey looked at her for a long moment. "I've never met anyone like you," he finally said. But then he smiled. "Wow, I hope that didn't sound too romantic. After all, I don't want to sound ridiculously sappy. I hope that we can still get together sometimes."

"Anytime," Carina said. "And trust me, I do mean anytime."

x-x-x-x-x

The team gathered in the barn for the battle between Sarah and Hannah much like the crowd entering a professional boxing match. When Sarah finally got inside she looked around and instantly came to the very same conclusion that Casey earlier had. This was no ordinary barn next to a farmhouse, although Sarah honestly wouldn't know what that would look like anyway. But this was clearly set up as a training center for agents. Besides the impressive shooting range, there was a complete workout facility on the second level. Okay perhaps it wasn't as polished and shinny as the multi-million dollar facility that the CIA Academy could offer, but it was every bit as functional. There was even a kickboxing ring set up. She made a mental note to drag Dad off to the side as soon as she could and use her new status of daughter-in-law to get the real story on the house and what it was designed for.

But first there was totally another matter to take care of. Hannah was apparently perfectly willing to fight in her not-really-there bra, or even less. In fact, she was clearly looking forward to the spectacle it would create. She even challenged Sarah to do the same. Unexpectedly it was actually Carina who stepped up and put a stop to that foolishness. Apparently, when it came to fighting, Carina was all business. So they ended up outfitted pretty much alike. The blue sports bra and matching shorts were fairly standardCIAAcademyissue for such an event.

The atmosphere was tense and exciting, almost like a real sporting event. All that was missing was vendors selling concessions. Chuck stood outside of the ring behind Sarah. "You do know that you don't have to do this?" he asked gently.

He completely expected her to be in pre-fight mode… literally, so of course he wasn't surprised that she totally ignored his question. But he was surprised when she turned to face him with a grin. "Care to tell me why you're massaging my shoulders and neck like that?" she asked.

All Chuck could do was shake his head in disgust. "You really never have seen Rocky, have you?" he asked sadly. "I'll tell you what. When you win, we'll watch it tonight as your reward. I'm sure that Dad can find it somewhere."

The grin never left Sarah's face as she whispered in Chuck's ear her alternative suggestion for a reward which had nothing to do with watching any stupid movie. The grin even grew a bit as he nervously looked around to see if anybody had heard her reward counter proposal.

She was clearly relaxed as she climbed into the ring. Hannah was already there, stretching. And for a moment, Sarah flashed back to her early training days. Before meeting Chuck, the happiest times of her life were when she was in the ring. CIA Academywas always ridiculously hard, often degrading, and mostly just plain frustrating. But fighting was a time when she could work out those frustrations. Not even Carina whispering in her ear about Hannah Watkins' impressive reputation for being an excellent fighter on her own could dent her good mood.

And Sarah had to admit. Hannah Watkins was good, damned good. She was actually a little better than Sarah anticipated. Her quickness more than overcame her lack of size. She also was clearly comfortable in the ring. If she was intimidated in the least by facing the current CIA Academy kickboxing record holder, her face showed no fear at all. In fact, she was clearly confident that she was going to win. She continually verbally taunted Sarah, trying to make her lose her composure. In fact, as she described her plans for getting Chuck in bed in amazingly vivid detail, some of her language wasn't exactly ladylike. Devon was the one who blushed the hardest but it was clearly Carina who enjoyed it the most.

The fight itself started out slowly. In fact, Hannah actually appeared to have the upper hand for a while. Sarah's style was always to start defensively, take her time, and discover her opponent's tendencies and weaknesses. As Sarah carefully stalked her around the ring, she also quickly found out that Hannah wasn't above fighting dirty. The kicks she was aiming at Sarah's knee joints wouldn't have been allowed at the Academy. Hannah even got in a quick punch between Sarah's hands that jerked her head back and made her see stars for a moment.

But in the end Hannah Watkins, like so many unfortunate others before her, had no answer for Sarah's lighting quick left foot. Once she landed the inevitable solid kick to the side of Hannah's head, the fight was for all intents and purposes over. Hannah was dazed enough to drop her defenses. Sarah Walker had made her reputation on not giving an enemy a chance to recover. And Sarah Bartowski saw no reason to allow marriage to change that characteristic. One follow up kick to the midsection took all of the fight out of her opponent. The rest of the fight was simply a formality as Sarah followed up with a series of roundhouse punches to the head which quickly had the defenseless Hannah lying flat on her back, semi-conscious, with no idea where she was. The submission was quick and merciful.

Naturally Devon, always the doctor, was in the ring shining a light in Hannah's eyes looking for signs of a possible concussion almost before she hit the canvas.

Chuck went to make sure that Sarah was okay. After all, she had taken at least one pretty good shot. But Misty got there first. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen," she said breathlessly. "Could you possibly teach me how to do that?"

That was probably the best possible thing to say to Sarah if you wanted on her good side… and being on her bad side was not the prescription for a long life. "Sure," she said with a beaming grin. "As long as you teach me how to make those blueberry pancakes."

Naturally, Sarah didn't know Misty very well. But she liked what she did know. And she was trying hard to make her feel welcome in the team. The last thing that she wanted was to hurt anybody. It was actually Casey of all people who noted the look on Ellie's face as she watched the exchange between the two women from afar. And although he couldn't decide if the look was one of more sadness or betrayal, it clearly was not happy. Whichever it was, he made a mental note to talk to Sarah about it. After all, this team had enough problems. They didn't need jealousy.

Meanwhile, Hannah had recovered enough to the point that she was now trying to get to her feet… and frustrated that Devon wasn't letting her. Finally he got the stool from the corner and gently helped her up and guided her to it. As soon as Sarah noticed that, she went directly to her. "We had a bet," Sarah said as she towered over her, making no attempt to hide the smirk of victory. "Are you ready to answer some questions now?"

Hannah was still a little cloudy, but she didn't protest. "I don't know many specifics," she said numbly. "All I know is that it's big… and called Operation Phoenix."

Suddenly all of the concern in the room was switched towards Chuck. It was the biggest flash he had ever experienced. It actually drove him to his knees for a long moment. In fact, when he finally came out of it, Sarah had his head in her hands looking at him in a near panic. "Chuck," she said. "Are you okay?"

The first thing that Chuck knew that he had to do was to calm down Sarah. "I'm fine," he said as soothingly as he could. "Oh my God, Sarah, I know what their plot is."

That got pretty much everybody's instant attention. "We have to find Dad," Chuck continued.

"We have a huge problem."

x-x-x-x-x


	27. Damn the Torpedoes

_I'm not trying to make a political statement with this story. I'm personally not a huge fan of either political party. But since I made the bad guys Democrats in Prodigal Daughter, it's only fair that a Republican takes a turn being the bad guy, right?_

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Damn the Torpedoes**

x-x-x-x-x

Steven Bartowski had seen it all and then some. He had survived for the past twenty years by being one step ahead of the hordes of people who would do him harm. You didn't do that by allowing yourself to panic, no matter what the situation. So he was a very hard person to rattle. But Sarah could plainly see the color leave his face as he listened to Chuck's report. "Are you sure?" was all he could say.

Chuck looked at Sarah for reassurance and seeing her calming nod, sighed. "I'm sure," he said. "At least the intersect is. They have the ten targets already identified to maximize causalities. The current estimate is around fifty thousand deaths and about that same number of other serious injuries."

Of all the people in the room, Casey was the one who was least unhappy. Oh make no mistake. He wasn't happy at the news. He was beyond furious. It's just that now they knew what they were fighting against. It was always better to know what your enemies had in mind. Not only that, now it was clear that fighting had to be at least considered. "So," he said. "What do we do?"

It was Ellie who first spoke. "I don't understand," she said. "Why would they do such a thing? They are going to kill untold tens of thousands of innocent people. Surely, they wouldn't do that just for a political reason."

Okay, so Ellie wasn't Misty's favorite person, not even close. But she was grateful that she asked the question. It was the very one that she was dying to ask but didn't feel it her place.

"I should have seen this coming," Steven said sadly. "Now it all makes sense. I guess I just never imagined that even they could be that evil." Then he turned to his daughter. "This isn't simply petty partisan politics," he said. "They are not trying to just influence an election. They are changing the whole political landscape of the country."

"It's funny," Devon said. "That Shaw character invoked the Patriot Act to intimidate us. Just like September 11th allowed them to push that through, they are going to…"

"This will be ten times worse than September 11th," Steven interrupted sadly. "By creating the image of this huge internal terrorist group, assassinating the President, and staging devastating attacks on ten major cities, they are going to put the country into a panic. That will allow them to declare martial law, use the military to suspend the Bill of Rights, and claim that anybody who opposes them is part of the enemy."

"They are going to turn the country into a dictatorship," Misty said, far more to herself than to anybody. If she was afraid of overstepping her bounds, she shouldn't have been. The entire room nodded with her.

"That's exactly right," Carina said. "They are going to use fear to temporarily get power that they would never be able to get politically. Of course they will say it's temporary but nobody with that much power ever gives it up voluntarily. So temporary will last forever. They will be quickly hunting down any opposition as ruthlessly as possible."

"And our faces are going to be on the poster board," Casey finished her thought. "How could we possibly hide in that climate?"

"It would be much harder," Steven admitted. "We're going to need to go underground."

"Underground?" Chuck asked. "For how long?"

Steven looked at his son affectionately. "Forever, I'm afraid," he said.

Chuck looked at his wife in horror. "I need to talk to Sarah," he said.

Steven sighed. "Agreed," he said. "Let's not make any decisions right now. We'll go think about what this means and get back together for dinner. Maybe by that time I'll have some answers."

x-x-x-x-x

It was a common misperception. People always would assume that being the Vice President of the United States was a pressure packed, overwhelming job, that he was second in command of the country, in meetings from the second that he woke up to when he closed his eyes at night, deciding the fate of the world. But the reality was that wasn't close to actually being true. In fact, let's face it. The V.P. didn't really have many official duties. His main task was to wait around if and when he was needed to become President. Okay, so he was technically President of The Senate. Big deal. That boiled down to being ready to break a tie vote. But in the current partisan gridlock that consumed the Senate, there weren't all that many votes of any kind. And since nothing ever came to a vote unless the compromise had already been negotiated in the back room, anything close to a tie vote was laughable. Other than that, he was mostly a public relations figure, delegated to cutting-the-ribbon type events like the dedication of a new bridge to nowhere that the President was either too busy or too uninterested to attend.

Another common misconception was that the President and V.P. were best friends who basically agree on most everything. That was rarely the case. The second person on the ticket was almost always chosen for political reasons. He was from a state that the presidential candidate needed to carry, lived in a region of the country that needed bolstering, or had some experience that the head of the ticket lacked. In fact, in this case, the President and V.P. couldn't stand one another. Perhaps for obvious reasons they didn't often say it out loud. But privately they weren't all that particularly shy about admitting it. It was easy for them to have excuses not to ever be in the same room. Actually, since terrorist attacks became a real threat, they made it policy to never be within twenty miles of each other. And when they were forced to be by some ceremony, the Secretary of State was dispatched to an undisclosed location.

The only reason that Fred White agreed to run in the first place was that he had his own ambitions. He had been completely comfortable in his role of Senator. He was from a comfortably red state in the middle of the solid south. Baring some ridiculous scandal, his reelection every six years was as guaranteed as anything in politics ever was. He could have easily spent the rest of his career there, but for one fact. Suffering through being second fiddle for eight years would put him in perfect position to run for President in his own right.

And that was the original plan. At one time, White honestly believed that he could make a difference, that if he was President, he could fix the country. But being in Washington for the past dozen years had beaten that naïve notion from his brain. He now understood that getting anything accomplished in this town meant hours upon hours of mind numbing negotiations, countless backroom deals, and compromises so severe that the result was so watered down that whatever legislation finally got passed was hardly ever worth the effort anyway.

So when the powerful group of men first approached him, at first he listened out of curiosity more than anything. Certainly those first discussions didn't include anything illegal. They were more centered on how wonderful it would be to have someone completely in charge. They daydreamed about what they would love to do if they were able to make decisions best for the country without worrying what special interest or voting block was going to be offended. That's how a company was run.

Over the course of a few weeks those thoughts became somewhat of an obsession. White never saw himself as a bad person, quite the opposite. He was a patriot. He was completely confident that history would portray him as such, perhaps even as saving the republic. That's when he came up with the idea for Operation Phoenix. Just like the mythical bird, out of the ashes he would rebuild a country. Yes, some people were going to die. That was unfortunate. And yes, some of them would be innocent. But innocent people were dying every day anyway. Wasn't that the spirit of sacrifice that created the country in the first place?

Okay, the current plan put him in bed with some pretty loathsome people. That Shaw character was particularly odious. His sick obsession with driving this Sarah Walker woman to her knees, both figuratively and literally, was really starting to get in the way. The problem was he needed Shaw on top of his game, not daydreaming about his fantasy with her. The plan depended on him. After all, there would be opposition. They had to be quickly hunted down and ruthlessly crushed. Maybe if he could make this Sarah Walker thing finally happen, Shaw would be so grateful that he would actually start to again concentrate on his work. White sighed to himself.

The things he was willing to do for this country.

x-x-x-x-x

After the meeting broke up, Misty grabbed him and apologized for her part in the squabble with Ellie. She also promised to try harder. That was certainly good news. But then Devon couldn't find Ellie anywhere. Finally he went to their bedroom looking for her. He had to rub his eyes at the sight standing before him. Ellie was standing there… but what was she wearing? What wasn't she wearing was the more appropriate question. That red lace thing didn't cover a thing. It actually almost made her look more naked than truly being naked. All it did was draw attention to the fact that her chest was sticking out. Not that it didn't look great. It absolutely did, more than great. It may have been the sexiest sight of Devon's life. It's just that it was… odd. Ellie never dressed like this. And in the afternoon? Okay, so she was experimenting with her new sexual aggressiveness, but the look on her face was anything but seductive. "What's going on?" he asked cautiously. "That's a new look for you. I've never seen that outfit before. Are we going to…"

"No," Ellie quickly said. "We're not. I have to talk to you about something."

There was something about the tone of her voice that gave him pause. "Are you mad at me about yelling at you about Misty?" he asked.

That didn't get the smile he was expecting. "Look," she said with a sigh. "I owe you something. You deserve the total truth about what happened. Once I thought that we could just get past this and it would eventually fade away. But it is clearly going to be an issue between us until we resolve it. So let's get this on the table. I bought this in Cancun. I originally bought it for you when I was shopping with Sarah. But the reason I've never shown it to you before is that I wore it when I was going to seduce Cole."

Devon didn't say anything. He just sat on the bed sadly.

"I didn't have sex with Cole," Ellie quickly said. "I'm not lying about that. We kissed once and both stopped. That's the total truth. But that doesn't really matter. I walked out there in this ridiculously invisible thing with every intention of fucking his brains out. And I can tell you how sorry I am until I'm blue in the face. I can tell you that it had nothing to do with you, that I just needed to find out about myself. I can tell you that it had nothing to do with Cole, that he was just the closest guy at the time. I can even tell you that I found out what I needed to know and I'll never wonder about it again. All those things are absolutely true. I can look you in the eye and say them and mean them with no reservations. But that's not good enough. The honest truth is that I stood in that bathroom knowing that what I was about to do would hurt you, would hurt us, and I decided to do it anyway. In making that decision, I betrayed you that night. And, Devon, I would give anything to be able to go back in time and change that fact… but I can't. For the rest of my life I'm going to have to live with the fact that one stupid decision might have cost me a future with the only man I've ever loved."

Devon finally found his voice. "Are you breaking up with me?" he asked. "I don't want that."

"I know," Ellie said as the tears began to stream down her face. "But we have a problem. You're simply too loyal to admit that this bothers you too much to get past. You need some time to be truly single to decide if we can be together… or if this is going to drive you crazy forever. I love you too much to accept that." Then she took the ring off her finger and handed it to him. "This is totally my fault," she whispered to keep her voice from breaking. "I'm very, very sorry. Let's take some time and let you honestly figure out what you want."

"If you end up with Misty, or someone else for that matter, I only have myself to blame."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Chuck and Sarah were back in their room, Sarah grabbed his hand. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Chuck didn't answer, not really. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her as tightly as he ever had before.

Sarah could plainly see that he was emotional. So for a long while she just wrapped her arms around him and held him back. But as much as she was enjoying this, they had to talk. "Sweetie," she finally said. "Tell me what's wrong? Please talk to me."

Chuck tried hard to keep his voice from breaking. "He is never going to touch you," he was finally able to say in almost a whisper. "I'll die before I'll allow that to happen."

Sarah knew that she had to do something to lighten the mood in order for them to discuss this rationally. "I know," she said. "That's so sweet. But, Chuck, whatever disgusting imaginary agenda Shaw has for me in his deluded mind is not our biggest problem. And even if it was, I would actually much more prefer a plan where you live and don't allow him to ever touch me. You promised me, remember?"

But Chuck didn't flinch. "I know that I did," he said as he finally broke the embrace. "And I meant it. I would never break a promise like that to you. I won't do anything that you're not completely on board with. I promised you veto power and that's what you still have."

Even though she was still concerned, Sarah's face showed her relief. "Okay," she said. "Thank you."

Chuck caught the look in her eyes and finally smiled. "You already knew that," he said. "You just wanted to hear me say it."

Sarah's face bloomed into a huge smile. "Okay, you got me," she said as playfully as she could. "I'll admit it. I've turned into something of a sucker for romance. It felt good to hear you say it. I'm sorry if that sounded manipulative. Go ahead. Tell me what you want to do."

"I think it's obvious," Chuck said. "We have to fight. How can we raise a family living underground for the rest of our lives?"

Sarah's smile faded a little. "Your retirement lasted about twelve hours," she said wistfully. Then she responded to his look. "I know," she sighed. "I guess you're right. But, Chuck, my original conditions still apply. If we're going to fight, we have to be smart about it."

Chuck nodded. "Okay," he said. "Yes, I agree we need to be smart. What should we do?"

"Let's see what Dad has to say," Sarah said. "He'll have a plan."

Chuck turned to head for the door when he felt Sarah's hand on his wrist pull him back. "Dad's pretty smart," she said with a laugh. "But even he will need some time to come up with a plan. He said we'd get together after dinner."

Chuck looked at his watch. "But that's not for a couple of hours," he protested. "What should we do until then?" Then he saw the twinkle in her eyes. "Seriously?" he asked with a grin. "Now?"

"Well," Sarah said playfully. "We have only been married for three days. We technically should still be on our honeymoon. And I did win my fight with Hannah. I do think I heard something about a reward."

x-x-x-x-x

Really having nothing else to do, Ellie was finally getting the chance to check out the basement. It was pretty amazing. For one thing, there was an infirmary there that was almost a mini hospital. The first thought that popped into her mind was how she couldn't wait to show Devon. But reality quickly set in. That would have to wait… and given today's developments, there was a very real possibility that it would never happen. For now, she would just have to be content with checking it out by herself.

The other thing that was down there was a full lab. Ellie was looking forward to working more on Dad's invention. And this was the perfect place. It had multiple computers every place you looked and equipment so sophisticated that she could only guess at it's purpose.

To say that Ellie was down would be somewhat of a ridiculous understatement. Devon was her life. But as much as she was dying inside, this was the right thing for him. As much as she desperately wanted to get back together, she knew that she had to put that out of her mind. For this to have any hope of working, Devon needed to be single. And that meant that Ellie needed to be single as well. If they got back together after this, and Ellie wanted that more than anything, it would be because they both wanted it, not because it was just the way things had always been. She was surprised that she wasn't crying. It felt so odd to be single. For one thing, she knew that if she started crying, she might never stop.

Oh, she knew that Devon was probably talking to Misty right now. And maybe even more than talking. After all, she had just delivered him to her on a silver platter. It would be child's play for her to get a vulnerable Devon on the rebound into her bed. Ellie tried to block the image of them rolling around naked from her mind. The plain truth was Devon was now single. If he chose to pursue another woman, that was his perfect right. Ellie no longer had any moral standing to object. That was just something she had to let go.

And Devon wasn't her only problem. Sarah had also apparently made a new friend. Okay, so being jealous over that was childish. She knew that. It's just that Ellie had been looking forward to teaching Sarah how to cook for some time herself. And now it looked as if Misty was taking that away from her as well. She was so involved with trying to figure out what it all meant that she didn't notice Casey until he was standing right next to her. "Here you are," he said. "I've been looking for you."

Ellie's heart leapt into her throat. "John," she exclaimed. "Oh my God, you startled me. Why are you looking for me? Is something wrong?"

"Not really," Casey replied. "I just thought that maybe you would like to practice shooting some more… away from the others. I'll be happy to work with you."

In another time, and with almost any other guy, Ellie might have been worried that he was coming on to her, concerned that he was looking for an easy rebound driven conquest of his own. But now she recognized what this really was. John had heard the news, knew she was hurting, and was just trying to be her friend. That must have been pretty hard for him. Being open about feelings was not his personality. In fact it was incredibly sweet. She was truly ashamed that she had misjudged him so harshly for the past two years. "I think I'm going to retire as a marksman," she said with as much smile as she could muster. "Why don't we take a walk instead?"

The farm house was built on a hill. So the basement was of the walk out variety. As soon as they got outside Casey's eyes lit up when he noticed a four wheel ATV. Actually there were three of them sitting there. "Why don't we go for a ride?" he asked.

Ellie had to admit to herself that getting away from the house for a while would be a good thing. But she had never ridden in anything like that before. And she had treated more than a few people in the E.R. who had. "I don't know," she said cautiously. "These things are dangerous."

But Casey was already pulling her into the vehicle. "Come on," he scoffed as he turned the ignition. "I'll be careful."

Ellie had to admit, it was relaxing. Casey was actually being very careful. Neither had any clue where they were going, so following the path as it wound around various hills seemed prudent. After about a twenty minute drive, they found themselves at a… well, what was it? It was much bigger than a pond. But it wasn't quite big enough to call a lake.

Whatever it was, it was simply fabulous. Sitting under a stand of shade trees was a large picnic table and a charcoal grill. There was also a dock with a fishing boat tied up floating next to it. The breeze coming off the water while they stood there in the shade felt heavenly on the hot summer day. The sun shinning off the crystal blue water with the waves gently lapping at the dock created a scene worthy of a Norman Rockwell, Saturday Evening Post cover.

Ellie instantly knew that if Devon and she ever got back together, she was going to celebrate by dragging him out here for a picnic. She might even be able to talk him into a little skinny dipping. It had always been one of her fantasies anyway. The water looked delightful. And honestly, that was one short step away from rocking his world on that dock. But that was enough of that kind of thinking. Devon was single.

If she had known Casey just a tiny bit better, she might have asked him to turn his head for a second while she lost her clothes and jumped in the water herself. After all, they both were single. And she was seriously considering it. But finally she decided that would be sending the wrong signal to him. Casey was sweet. They were friends, and on the verge of becoming very close friends. But they would really never be more. She had taken enough psychology in Med School to know that she wasn't thinking clearly right now. And who knew what would happen once she was naked with him? Actually that wasn't true. She did know. She was already feeling the urge to use Casey to reinforce her shattered self image. It was the classic rebound scenario. Why allow some stupid rebound impulse that she would regret ten minutes after it was over to ruin their friendship? It wouldn't help anything. It would just be embarrassing if he turned her down… and even more embarrassing in the long run if he took her up on it. It was during that internal debate when she spotted it. "Come on," she said as she grabbed Casey's arm and pulled him along. "We have to go for a ride."

So now it was Casey's turn to be cautious. "I don't know," he said. "These things are dangerous. Have you ever been in one before?"

"Well, no," Ellie admitted. "But it's only a canoe. I'm sure we can figure it out. People have been using them for hundreds of years."

"What could possibly go wrong?"

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were lying on the bed just holding each other. And that got Sarah thinking about how much her life had changed in the past month. For Sarah Walker to be lying in bed in the middle of the afternoon meant she was in a hospital. But Sarah Bartowski, on the other hand, was perfectly content to spend all afternoon with her head lying on her new husband's chest and listen to his heart beating. It was an odd feeling, odd but… wonderful.

If anything, she was debating between just lying there and enjoying the moment or getting him to start part two of her victory celebration reward thingy. Part one had been a smashing success. Chuck was proving to be an enthusiastic genie. His effort had been nothing short of remarkable. But she was recovered now. And it seemed like a shame to waste an opportunity what with them already being naked. But just as she was about to go for it, a knock on the door interrupted those thoughts.

Sarah was so comfortable that she sort of forgot they were naked. So when she called "yes," it was left to Chuck to frantically pull up the sheet to cover them.

Misty was clearly embarrassed when she entered the room to find them in bed. "Oh my God," she said nervously as she averted her gaze. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think. I keep forgetting that you're newlyweds."

But Sarah was quick to reassure her. "Don't worry," she said with a friendly laugh. "You're not interrupting anything, not yet anyway. What's up?"

"Umm," Misty began nervously. "Well, I was getting ready to start dinner. You mentioned that you wanted to learn to cook…"

Sarah grinned at her nervousness. "I'd love to help you with dinner," she said. "What are we having?"

Misty relaxed at Sarah's friendly tone. "Steven said that's up to me," she said. "There is chicken in the fridge. I was thinking about fried chicken, fried potatoes, and a salad. What do you think? Maybe we could make some biscuits."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah had to admit, she usually didn't enjoy situations where she wasn't good at something. And almost anything in the kitchen certainly qualified as one of those things. Sure, she made Chuck some scrambled eggs on that mission in the suburbs. But that was probably the edge of her cooking prowess.

Even if cooking wasn't her strength, she knew that it was one thing that she had to try. After all, they couldn't be expected to feed their kids scrambled eggs three meals a day for the next twenty years. And fast food just wasn't that healthy. So even if it was uncomfortable, it was something that simply had to be mastered. And when Sarah Walker, no damn it. When Sarah Bartowski put her mind to something, she usually succeeded. As long as she didn't look like a fool.

But even those slight fears proved to be groundless. Misty and she just seemed to hit it off from the start. She had a natural, homey style that didn't seem authoritative or arrogant. She simply went about her business, showing Sarah what to do, and patiently waiting while Sarah tried it her way. In a lot of ways, Misty reminded her of a younger version of Ellie. It was no wonder that she and Devon had hit it off so well. She was just comfortable to be around. They laughed their way through making the meal. The only hard part was the biscuits, and even then it was fun as they got into an impromptu flour fight that had both of their faces pure white.

"Your love story is the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Misty finally sighed. "The underachieving nerd wins the heart of the beautiful super spy. It should be a movie. You have to tell me how he did it. I mean he's a nice guy, but all the amazing men you must have been around? That Bryce…" Then her voice trailed off as she remembered that Bryce was only killed yesterday. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard for you."

"It's the most romantic thing I've ever heard of too," Sarah laughed as she changed the subject for Misty's benefit. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it's not all just a really good dream. Chuck is more than a nice guy. He's really the sweetest guy in the world. But it wasn't easy. It almost didn't happen at all. There were too many obstacles, most of them my doing. I was too worried about things that really didn't matter. Finally his sister pounded some sense into me. She came up with this new idea called a trial-togetherness. It was sort of the opposite of a trial-separation. Then she plotted to put us in a ton of romantic, couple's type activities in Cancun. It is actually Ellie who deserves all of the credit."

At the mention of Ellie, Misty got quiet. "While she hung out with that Cole," she finally said coolly.

Sarah paused for a moment to face Misty. "You're wrong about Ellie," she finally said softly. "Look, I know that you're protective of Devon. That's actually kind of sweet. He's really a great guy. But Ellie is frantic about hurting him. She's an amazing person. Give her a chance. She might end up being your most loyal friend."

Misty was clearly interested in changing the subject. "Don't forget," she said. "I expect you to return the favor with these cooking lessons. I really want to learn how to kick box."

That made Sarah feel more than a little guilty. "I'm happy to help," she said cautiously. "I just want to warn you. I was an instructor at the CIA Academy. Don't take offense at being screamed at. That's the only way I know how to teach. And we have to start by getting into top shape. Kickboxing is not a sport. It's survival. If you're going to learn how to fight, you have to learn how to win. That's the only way to survive."

Misty scoffed at that notion. "I can't believe you would scream at me," she said with a laugh.

"You're much too nice."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey and Ellie had just gotten back to the house after their disastrous attempt at a canoe ride that fate had turned into an impromptu swim. Perhaps it wasn't the most elegant canoe ride ever. Come to think of it, the swim probably wasn't all that elegant either. But it sure was fun. And Ellie could sure use some fun. In spite of feeling plain awful, the situation was ridiculous. And once Ellie started laughing, she found that she couldn't stop. "You see," Ellie said as she leaned on Casey to keep from falling over from laughing so hard. "This is why you don't stand up in a canoe."

"If I remember right," Casey responded. "It was your idea to change spots. If fact, it was your idea to go out on the stupid lake in the first place."

"Yeah," Ellie said. "Well, didn't anyone ever tell you that the wet-head look is over?"

"Yeah," Casey said. "Well, didn't anyone ever tell you that it's called a wet t-shirt contest? Not a wet everything contest."

Sarah had just slid the biscuits into the oven when she finally looked up from her giggling with Misty and saw Casey and Ellie standing there staring at them. "Ellie," she said with a grin. "How long have you been standing there? Misty is teaching me how to fry chicken. Come and help us."

Ellie just stood there staring for a long moment.

Sarah looked at her sister for a long moment. Then it hit her. "Ellie," she said. "You're both soaking wet. What in the world happened?"

Ellie didn't say anything. She just turned and half walked and half ran away.

Sarah couldn't go after her. They had three frying pans on the stove full of hot grease frying chicken and potatoes. "What's wrong with her?" Sarah said, far more to herself than Misty.

But Misty actually answered her. "I know exactly what's wrong with her," she said sadly. "She's jealous."

"It's more than that," Casey said, suddenly realizing that he was dripping water on the floor.

"She just broke up with Devon."

x-x-x-x-x


	28. Full Speed Ahead

_The way that BrickRoad and I wrote a lot of The Long Brick Road is that one of us would come up with an idea for a scene in an email. Often times, the scene was far ahead of where we currently were in the story but that didn't really matter. The other would add something to it, make some changes and send it back. After about a thousand iterations of that, we would finally have a scene that we would put away to use later in the story. Almost every chapter had at least one scene that we had written long ago via email. I bring that up because quite some time ago now my friend, Lucky47 and I wrote the last part of this chapter that same way. I hope you have as much fun reading it as we had writing it. At the time it was hard to see how it would fit in the story, but we're here now._

_I think I'm going to start posting on Thursdays now and only occasionally on Mondays. That's just the way my schedule seems to work out._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_Anybody who knows me from the forums knows that I was always in favor of killing off Devon. Not that I don't like Devon, I do. It's just that I always thought the writers could do so much more with a single Ellie. You could trot out various love interests for her. You could have Chuck be more protective of her. You could play Sarah and Ellie as closer. And you could play up Morgan's crush on her that they seem to have forgotten about. I'm not sure why I bring this up. Only if you're handicapping who the next death might be… Of course you could accomplish the same thing by just breaking them up._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Full Speed Ahead**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Misty just stared at each other for a long moment with wide eyes. It probably hit them at pretty much the same time that they were in basically the exact same situation. They had chicken frying on the stove while their best friend, who was off someplace hurting as much as they ever had in their life, needed them.

Casey was the unfortunate one who was standing there at the time. So he was quickly recruited to finish cooking the meal. Naturally, he was eager to help in any way he could. "Are you crazy?" he asked in abject horror. "I've never cooked anything as hard as fried chicken in my life. Do you want to burn the house down?"

But Misty didn't let him off the hook. That was fortunate since she was probably the only one on the team who at that point could sweet talk him into almost anything. "Look, Casey," she said breathlessly. "The chicken is already cooking. Let it go for seven more minutes, then turn it and let it cook another ten minutes. In twelve minutes, pull the biscuits out of the oven. We'll be right back."

As soon as they left the kitchen, they ran into Chuck who was coming out of the family room. "Hey," he said with a smile. "How's the cooking lesson going?"

"No time," Sarah said breathlessly without stopping. "Go help Casey in the kitchen."

"Huh?" was all Chuck could respond. "What's wrong?"

"Just do it," Sarah snapped, much more harshly than she intended. "I'll explain later."

When Chuck entered the kitchen he saw Casey standing there looking confused. "Hey," he said. "Why are you doing the cooking?"

If he was looking for a calmer response from Casey than he had just gotten from his wife, he was sorely disappointed. "Why do you think, moron?" Casey growled. "They left me here. Help me figure out how to turn this chicken."

Chuck looked at the water dripping from Casey's clothes. "What happened?" he asked in typical Chuck fashion.

"Did you catch fire checking out Misty and they had to hose you down?"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was pretty easy to track. All Sarah had to do was to follow the wet footsteps. They quickly led her upstairs and to her bedroom. When she got there the bedroom door was still half open. Ellie was just standing there numbly. She was still dripping.

Sarah didn't give her time to react. She stepped right up and wrapped her arms tightly around her sister. "Sweetie," she said. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you come and find me?"

But Ellie didn't flinch. "You have to stop acting so sad," she said as she gently rubbed Sarah's back while doing her best to not get her soaked. "Otherwise you're going to get me crying, and then we have problems. It's going to be okay."

"How can you say that it's going to be okay?" Sarah asked incredulously. "You broke up with Devon. That's the worst thing I've ever heard."

Ellie pulled back to look at Sarah in the eyes. "If that was just intended to cheer me up, you failed miserably," she said with as much smile as she could muster. "Look, I understand this is hard. But it had to be done. I'm doing this for Devon's sake. The thing with Cole was driving him crazy. I'm hoping that without the pressure of feeling like he owes me loyalty, he will take a couple of days, think it over, and conclude that he's willing to forgive me."

"What if he doesn't?"

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there," Ellie said. "I'm sort of trying not to think too hard about that right now. Wow, you really do suck at this cheering up thing, don't you? Did you bring me some Hemlock to drink?"

That actually got Sarah to finally smile. "I'm all out of Hemlock," she said as she blinked away the tears that were forming. "I'll have to settle for giving you a sharp stick to poke yourself in the eye with. I'm sorry that I'm so bad at being a friend."

Ellie squeezed her. "I never said you were bad at being a friend," she protested. "Stop saying that. You're the very best friend, just maybe not so strong at the nurturing thing. That's okay. It's not your style. You're more the 'tough love' sort of friend, the friend who takes whoever who would be so stupid as to bother me and shoots him in the head – ten to twelve times. I'm sorry, sweetie, but there is nobody here to shoot… not yet anyway. I'll let you know."

"Okay," Sarah said in now mostly fake annoyance. "But why am I just hearing about this? I'm the first person that should have found out, not the last."

"You were busy," Ellie said. Then responding to Sarah's skeptical look she added, "okay, and yes, I was a bit jealous of you and Misty. I admit it."

"Jealous," Sarah sighed incredulously. "Come on, Ellie. Seriously? Do you know how stupid that makes you sound? I thought that Chuck was the only foolishly jealous Bartowski that I would have to deal with. Is this a family thing? Is Dad like this too? It makes you sound worse than Chuck. It's actually a little offensive."

Ellie smiled again. "Yeah," she said. "Don't worry, Mrs. Tough-Love. You don't have to sugar coat it, not that you were or anything. God forbid that you should lose your standing as a badass. In my defense I will say that I haven't been having the best couple of days."

"That's all the more reason that you should have come to me," Sarah said, just as insistently but with more of a smile. "I thought that's what sisters are supposed to be for."

"Yes," Ellie said with a sigh. "That's what sisters are for. You're totally right about that. I get it. I was being stupid."

"Very stupid," Sarah agreed as she finally broke into a grin at Ellie's overt teasing. "It's never to happen again. Agreed?"

"You'd better get back down there," Ellie said. "You don't want to leave in the middle of a lesson. Your teacher might fail you."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Sarah said. "The teacher left at the same time. It seems she was just as worried about her best friend as I was."

"You were in the middle of cooking dinner," Ellie said in alarm. "Who is frying the chicken?"

"Casey," Sarah casually replied. "I think Chuck might be helping. I'm not sure."

"Oh my God," Ellie said as she headed for the door. "We have to get down there before they burn the house down."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally, the meal was beyond wonderful. It was the best chicken that Sarah had ever tasted. And just as naturally, Chuck and Casey were falling over each other claiming full credit even though they really didn't do much. They were just starting to think about turning the chicken when Ellie and Sarah came back and took over. They even claimed credit for the biscuits which they also hadn't actually touched.

Dinner was honestly a little tense. Devon chose not to eat with the rest of the team to give Ellie a break from any awkwardness. Misty took him some food out to the barn where he was working out.

Steven did insist that he come in and attend the team meeting. It was a little awkward, but the team made sure they sat between them so they didn't have to make eye contact. As usual, Steven wasted little time getting to the point. He turned directly to Sarah. "Have you made a decision?" he asked.

"I think so," she said. "We feel like we have no choice but to fight. There is just no way to raise a family underground."

Steven tried hard to hide his reaction, mostly because he wasn't sure what his reaction actually was. He was so tired of fighting. He was even more tired of seeing his family in danger. But the fact remained that they were in danger. Fighting… and winning was probably the only short term way to fix that. "Okay," he said. "Does anybody feel differently?" It was a question that was directed towards the whole group. But it was hard not to look in the direction where Devon and Misty were sitting.

Misty knew full well that the question was actually mostly directed at her. She wasn't really offended. How could she be? He didn't know her at all. But she also wasn't going to back down either. Sarah had told her this morning that they had adopted her into the family. Well, she had already adopted them right back. For better or for worse, this was now her family. There was no decision to make. "No, sir," was all she said. But it was enough. Her meaning, and her resolve, was clear.

"Are you sure," Casey asked softly. "This isn't your fight. They don't know you at all. You can go back to your life."

Misty looked at Casey… and smiled. She thought before that they might have had a connection. But now she was positive. He wasn't at all like the man she always imagined herself with. He certainly wasn't the smooth pretty boy type that was always hitting on her. But Casey was different. He was real… honorable… faithful. And he was a true hero. Truthfully, he reminded her of her dad… and those sexy eyes… oh god. "I'm sure," she answered as she locked eyes with him. "Of course I am. This is my life now."

Carina was probably the only one who truly picked up on the moment that Casey and Misty was sharing. And she hated to end that, but she finally couldn't keep the thought in any longer. "I think we all want to fight," she said. "But can we win? What is your plan?"

Steven smiled in spite of the tenseness in the room. "The key is getting to the President," he said. "We have to get to him before the Ring can kill him. If he is still in control of the military, we have a chance to ambush them. But we have to get to him… and convince him without anybody knowing."

"Why can't anybody know?" Ellie asked.

"They would just abort their plans," Steven said. "They would go back underground and wait a few months for their next chance. We might be fooled into thinking they would go away, but they wouldn't. Then we'd be right back to where we started. And next time, they would have surprise on their side."

"How could we possibly get to the President of the United States without anybody knowing?" Carina asked. "That doesn't sound too easy."

"And how could we convince him of anything even if we got the chance?" Ellie asked. "He would just think we're crazy. I'm not so sure that he wouldn't be right."

Steven smiled at his daughter. "That would actually be the easy part," he said. "He knows all about the exploits of the human Intersect and his badass blonde handler. He would love to meet them. Sarah was on the Secret Service detail once. She knows how to talk to him. Besides, and please don't take this the wrong way, but can you imagine Sarah smiling at a man and him not giving her the opportunity to a least explain herself? Once he was convinced that Chuck was really the Intersect, he would at least listen." He then turned to Carina. "Actually, Carina, you're absolutely right," he said. "Getting to him is not going to be easy at all. It's going to take multiple prep type missions. We're going to have to do some dangerous, distasteful things." Then he put a picture on the monitor. "Sarah, do you recognize this man?"

Sarah already had a fairly good idea where this was headed the second that she saw the picture. "Of course," she answered. "It's Jeff McKnight. He's the chief officer in the President's Secret Service detail. I know what you're thinking, Dad. Okay, you're right. He would probably be fairly easy to seduce. He's pretty much always on the prowl and I think I still may have a complete set of his fingerprints on my butt. But compromising one agent isn't going to get us anywhere close to the President. I was on the Presidential detail for a year. He is protected by several rings of agents."

"You're absolutely right, Sarah," Steven answered. "That's definitely true, here in the States. But the President is going to the G6 meetings inLondonnext week. He will take his six person personal protection detail with him, but while he's there all of the perimeter security will be handled by MI-6."

"Cole," Chuck said, more to himself than anybody. "Oh my God, Cole could get us close."

"Exactly," Steven said. "If Cole Barker could get us through the outer layers of security, having McKnight in our pocket could pay off. But we can't contact Cole through any official channels. Tell me, Sarah. You had an intimate personal relationship with him. Would Cole trust you enough to commit treason and help us off the record?"

Sarah bristled at the inference he was making, especially with Chuck sitting right there. "I did not have an intimate relationship with Cole," she snapped. "Why does everybody think that? Ellie had more of an…" Then she trailed off. That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Devonwas sitting right there too.

It was Chuck that jumped in and saved her. "Yes," he finally said. "Cole is our friend. Once we explain the situation, he will help us."

Steven turned a pained look towards Sarah. "I'm very sorry if you're offended," he said. "I didn't mean anything like that. Your loyalty is not in question to anyone. Not to your husband, not to our family, and not to the team. Anyone who doubts that simply hasn't been paying attention."

Sarah needed to change the subject. "Okay," she said. "But Dad, we have to find another way. Sure, it would be easy. This guy knows me. He's expressed an interest on more than one occasion. He has never been afraid to let me know how much he is interested in not so subtle language. It's one of the reasons that I finally asked for a reassignment out of the Secret Service. And what you're talking about would almost certainly require some long term intimacy. Okay, yes, I could have him in bed inside of an hour." Then she looked at Chuck and shook her head. "I just can't do it. I'm sorry, Dad. I know that it's important. But I really can't do that kind of mission anymore. I'm married now. That part of my life is over. We're going to have to find another way."

"Relax, Sarah," Steven said with a smile. "You're absolutely right. Your seduction mission days are over. It can't be you. For one thing, even if you were willing, I wouldn't be. Besides, he knows you. He knows you're rogue. It would tip him off right away. We can't allow him to ever see you. I'm not crazy about using these tactics in the first place but it has to be Carina. Carina, what I'm asking, I have no right to expect. If you object, I wouldn't hold it against you in the least."

"Why would I object, Steven?" Carina asked with a grin. "I'm not married to anybody. Besides, I was always better at this than Blondie here. It's my specialty."

"Way more practice," Sarah muttered under her breath.

"You can't go alone," Steven said, ignoring Sarah as he put another picture on the monitor.

"Josh Bentley," Sarah moaned. "He's even more disgusting. I definitely have a complete set of his fingerprints."

"I see you've met," Steven said. "He and McKnight hang out at one of the local bars almost every night..."

"Trying to hit on anything with a skirt," Sarah finished his statement in disgust.

"I'm afraid so," Steven said. "We need someone to go along with Carina and get him out of the picture so that she can be alone with McKnight to do her… umm… thing."

There was a lot of confusion in the room at that statement as the team looked at one another. Finally Steven turned to Misty. "Okay, Misty," he said. "You're up. If you want to fight with us, I think we have an assignment for you."

x-x-x-x-x

It had been a long night for Ellie. Sleeping alone, knowing that Devon was just down the hall hit her lot harder than she thought it would. Hopefully Devon was sleeping alone as well, but that certainly wasn't for sure. Misty had barely left his side. If that wasn't bad enough, Devon wouldn't meet her eye at all during breakfast.

Ellie was admittedly a little distracted and more than a little annoyed when she walked into her dad's room. Why was the door closed anyway? He usually left the door open. But that wasn't the main reason she was annoyed. Misty was supposed to meet with Chuck and Sarah to go over tonight's plan and make sure that she knew what to do. Okay, so Ellie knew that she wasn't needed for this. It was Misty who had the mission. Sarah was just involving her to keep her mind occupied. That was pretty obvious.

But why wasn't Misty there? She had agreed to meet. Where was she anyway? And more importantly, why did she always get stuck with these crap jobs? She was a doctor for crying out loud, not an errand girl. Why couldn't Sarah have dispatched Chuck to go look for her for once? After all, she had to let him out of her sight sometime.

Ellie knew that Misty wouldn't be in here with Dad. Normally she would just have assumed she was with Devon. But he was still there after breakfast sitting alone in the dining room moping over a cup of coffee. Misty wouldn't be in here, but maybe Dad had seen her. That's when she realized… why was he still in bed? Come to think of it, he had missed breakfast. Dad never slept in. Okay, so he wasn't expecting to meet with anybody for a few hours yet… but still. And why was the room so dark? It was well past time to get up. Was he sick?

If he was sick, it was horrible timing. The big mission was tonight, the one that had him so nervous. Ellie had to admit, him being nervous had her unnerved as well. After all, he was always the calm, reassuring one. And the team was laying it on the line tonight. Ellie didn't claim to understand all the planning and military style tactical discussions. But she knew from the tone of their voices if nothing else. This was more dangerous than it sounded. The entire team, but especially Carina and Misty, were in mortal danger. Whoever this Orion person that her dad had become was, they clearly needed him on the very top of his game tonight.

That's when her doctor instinct kicked in. If he was sick, he needed to be treated. And who better than a board certified, Emergency Room doctor, who also happened to be his daughter? Honestly, Ellie wasn't completely disappointed. No, she definitely didn't want her dad to be sick. It's just that she was feeling a little left out. Everybody else was making plans for their jobs tonight. Even Devon had an assignment. But there was really nothing for Ellie to do. Apparently there was no need for someone to take off their shirt and allow a drug lord to feel them up for a half hour… and that was Ellie's only spy experience. But a medical crisis, this was right up her alley.

The problem was that due to her haste in getting to him and the darkness of the room she didn't realize that Dad wasn't alone until she was already sitting on the edge of his bed. For her part the woman was snuggled into him, clearly trying to hide from her. They were both fairly obviously naked under the sheet which they were currently desperately trying in vain to cover themselves with. Even though once she realized the situation Ellie turned her head as quickly as she possibly could, she couldn't help but see her dark hair, and her white skin… lots of it.

Well, that wasn't totally true. All she could see for a long moment was red. The funny part was she wasn't sure who she was the angriest at. At least this meant that Misty wasn't in bed with Devon. But Ellie almost honestly preferred that to Dad. After all, Misty might very well be single… but she was younger than his youngest son. That was just sick. And Ellie couldn't pretend to understand her parent's relationship… but he was a married man. Not only was he cheating on his wife, he was cheating on her mother. How could she possibly be okay with that?

Steven must have sensed that she was furious because he immediately tried to calm her down. "Eleanor," he said. "I wasn't expecting you..."

"No kidding, Dad," Ellie said derisively as she got to her feet. "You're a grown man. You surely don't need a lecture from me about how much of a bastard it takes to cheat on his wife, especially after he goes on and on constantly about how much he loves her and how jealous of a person she is. I guess that part was all bullshit. You're clearly not that afraid of her being jealous. Or did you think that you weren't going to get caught?"

"Eleanor…"

"Don't even try it," Ellie angrily cut him off as she rounded to face him with hands on her hips. "And Misty, I know that you're probably pretty desperate to get laid. But come on. Even desperate sluts must have some kind of standards. He's probably older than your dad. Can't you do better than this? It's more than a little pathetic."

"Actually," came a voice from behind the sheet. "Don't underestimate your dad. It wasn't pathetic at all, far from it. Now, I'll admit it might not have been his very best effort. But that would be quite a high bar. After all, my expectations have grown incredibly high over the years. He was pretty excited and rushed a bit at the end. I guess I can cut him a bit of slack there. It's been almost three weeks. Don't get me wrong, it was still well above average. All in all, I'd call his performance most respectable… a solid B+."

Ellie's shoulders slumped in shock. "Mom?" was all she could whisper.

"Hello, Eleanor," Mary Bartowski said as she finally lifted her head. "It's nice to finally get to see you again. It's been a long time. I just have to say, you've turned into such a beautiful woman."

Ellie could still only whisper. "Mom," she said. "How are you here?"

Mary didn't answer her question. She just grinned. "This actually isn't the first time that you've walked in on us," she said. "You probably don't remember the other time, do you?"

Ellie could only shake her head, still in shock.

"I didn't think so," Mary said with her grin growing. "You were only six. If I remember correctly, you sort of spoiled that mood as well."

Ellie just stood there, unable to form any words.

"I'd really love to sit down and talk to you for a long while," Mary said. "There are so many things about you that I want to know. I'm so anxious to finally get to meet this Devon that your dad is constantly raving about. But I'm sort of in the middle of something right now. Did I mention it's been a long three weeks… for me too? Maybe you could come back in, say thirty minutes?"

Ellie just nodded and walked numbly towards the door. Mom obviously hadn't heard about the breakup. But this wasn't the time for that.

"By the way," Mary said softly, clearly now speaking to her husband… and definitely without much of the humor in her voice that had just been there.

"Who is Misty? And why would Eleanor think that it was her in your bed?"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie walked back into Chuck and Sarah's room and basically stumbled to the bed and sat down. Sarah could instantly tell just by the look on her face that something was horribly wrong. "Ellie," she said. "Did you find Misty? What happened?"

Ellie didn't respond for a long moment. She just buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe I just saw that," she finally muttered, far more to herself than to Sarah. "I can still see it with my eyes closed. How can I possibly un-see that?"

"Ellie," Sarah said insistently as she knelt beside where she was sitting listlessly on the side of bed. "What did you see? Please talk to me. You're really starting to scare me."

"It was the worst thing I've ever seen," Ellie said. Suddenly she noticed that Sarah had her gun in her hand and was headed for the door. So she grabbed her wrist. "Calm down, badass Mrs. Bartowski," she said with the beginnings of a shaky smile. "There's still nobody to shoot in the head ten to twelve times. I wish there was. Unless it's me, of course."

Sarah couldn't help the silly grin that appeared as Ellie told them the story. "She actually graded him?" Sarah finally asked incredulously.

"She gave him a solid B+," Ellie sighed. "She said that she only marked him down because he got excited and rushed a little at the end. They both were naked."

"Oh my God," Chuck said in horror as he ran to the bathroom to wash out his eyes. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? Why would you tell me that?"

"Come on guys," Sarah said, trying hard to not give them the impression that she was laughing at them. "Do you really think that your parents don't regularly have sex? I think it's sweet."

"You would," Chuck said sarcastically as he stood at the sink with the water running vigorously rubbing his eyes. "You think everything is sweet. You think that Casey and Carina are sweet."

So now Sarah's battle to not laugh was hopelessly lost. "Care to explain to me why you are washing out your eyes?" she asked. "You didn't see anything."

Chuck paused for a long moment. "I don't know," he finally numbly admitted. "I guess it's too hard to wash out your ears. Do we have any bleach? Maybe mouthwash would work."

"How do you think you two got here anyway?" Sarah asked as soon as she could stop laughing enough to get the words out. "You guys can moan about it but I for one am very proud of them… married for that long and still so much in love that they can't keep their hands off each other. Yes, make fun of me all that you want. I still think that it's very sweet. I can't wait to meet her." Then her grin turned sinister. "They are probably in the middle of round two right about now, you know? Dad now has something to prove to her. I'll bet he gets an A+ this time."

Chuck and Ellie just looked at each other. "Okay," Ellie said sadly.

"You can shoot me in the head ten to twelve times now."

x-x-x-x-x


	29. The Lucky Girl

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Lucky Girl**

x-x-x-x-x

_If you love something, set it free. If it returns, it is yours forever. If it doesn't return, it was never yours to begin with. – E. Bartowski Woodcomb_

x-x-x-x-x

At least Sarah got to meet her mother-in-law. Apparently that's all she had time for. Clearly she hadn't planned on anyone finding out that she was here… umm… on a layover with her husband… quite literally. But now that they did know, she and Steven called Ellie, Chuck, and their newest family member into a room.

"I'm sorry," Mary said. "I just don't have the time to spend with you right now. I have to get back. And your dad and I agreed that we would wait and tell you this story together."

"What story is that?" Chuck asked.

"The story of our family," Mary answered. "The story of Orion and Frost, two agents who thought they were doing the right thing, only to find out that they were being used. And that's too long of a story to get into now. I'll be back soon and we'll get away for a day and tell you every detail."

"That's going to take a whole day," Steven said. "It's a long story. It's… It's…"

"Complicated?" Ellie finished his statement sadly. "I've been hearing that word a lot lately."

"It's complicated, Eleanor," Mary admitted. "More than you know. For right now, I'm afraid that it's going to have to be enough for you to know that things aren't what they seemed for the past twenty years."

"You mean that we weren't abandoned and left to fend on our own?" Chuck asked sarcastically.

Mary opened her mouth, but no words would come.

"That's exactly what she means," Steven finally said. "Look, son, I know that it looks like that to you. But you need to understand. We were always watching over you."

"Always," Mary finally was able to get out. "I know what it looks like to you. That breaks my heart. But understand, every single thing that we did for the past twenty years was for you."

"How can that possibly be?" Chuck asked skeptically. "Mom, I was nine years old."

"Like your mother said," Steven said. "We don't have time to get into that right now. We promise that you'll get to hear the whole story soon. I understand that you're angry. Please wait until you know the facts. That's what a reasonable person does. Then if you want to judge us harshly, well that's your right."

"Chuck," Mary said. "I'm so sorry that you're struggling with this. I don't blame you. But I need you to understand how proud we both are of both of you. Ellie, you're a doctor. Chuck, you're a Stanford graduate. And you're married to an incredible woman."

Chuck looked over at Sarah… and smiled for the first time. "That she is," he said.

"That's why I'm sure you'll understand," Mary said. "I promise that we'll spend some time together soon, just you and me. I'm looking forward to that. But I only have ten minutes and right now Ellie needs me more. You have Sarah." Then she turned to the new daughter-in-law that she had just met. "We need you to protect him," she said. "I know that I don't have to tell you that… but I'm going to anyway."

"He's in much more danger than you realize."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was really struggling. It was hard to be in the house and see Devon sitting there hurting without wanting to throw herself into his arms. And that wouldn't do. If they were ever going to get back to where they were, it would have to be because Devon made it happen. As hard as it was, Ellie would have to wait for him to decide that, if he ever did. Until then, Devon had to be free to pursue whatever he wanted to without feeling guilty. That's the only way for this to work. If that meant him getting romantic with Misty, that's what it meant. Ellie wasn't all that sure if it was happening or not, and frankly she was blocking that thought from her consciousness. They were spending most of their time in the workout room in the barn. Ellie simply wouldn't allow herself to think about what might be happening out there.

Ellie knew that she really should be spending a lot of her time working in the lab. And that was exciting work. But she just couldn't get herself into the mood to work yet. Fortunately, Casey was being a real sweetheart and offered to get her away from the house. And that meant their special spot by the lake. Okay, so by mutual consent, the canoe was now off-limits. But there were still plenty of things to do, especially now that she could be prepared to dress for a day by the water. Ellie eagerly accepted his offer and packed up what was left of last night's fried chicken for a picnic lunch. That was a home run with Casey. It actually tasted better today than it had last night, if that was even possible. Casey still claimed most of the credit.

At first, Ellie worried a bit that he would think of this as a date. She certainly didn't want to give him that impression. She wasn't nearly ready for anything like that. But she needn't have worried. Casey was actually the perfect playmate for her at this point in time. He didn't need to be entertained. In fact he was perfectly content to sit there and not say anything for hours at a time. Currently they were sitting on the dock. Casey was fishing. Ellie wasn't an expert at fishing but he appeared to be doing quite well. He said the fish he was catching were called trout. Some of the trout looked big enough to fillet and take home for dinner if they chose. But up till now, he was letting them all go. Ellie was sitting contently on the edge swishing her feet in the refreshingly cool water.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Ellie had to do a double take to realize that he was talking to her. He didn't look her way. Instead he kept his eyes trained on the bobber that was floating about twenty feet from the dock. "Of course you can ask me a question, John," she said. "What do you want to know?"

Casey didn't respond for a long moment. "You're good at relationships," he finally said. "I think I'm becoming interested in someone. I'm not sure what I should do."

Ellie's head picked up and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. This might get awkward but at least it was only theoretical so far. If he wanted to pretend he was talking about someone else while he felt out her reaction that was fine. "That's nice," she said. "I'm not so sure that I'm so good at relationships. I'm not doing so well with my own relationship, but it's nice of you to say so. Does the girl know?"

"I don't think so," Casey said. "There are issues. It wouldn't really be appropriate."

If it wasn't before, now it was clear that he was indeed talking about her, unless he suddenly had developed a thing for Sarah… along with a death wish. After all, how stupid would that be? Everybody knew that if he was ever so stupid as to make any sort of move on Sarah, Dr. Bartowski would be soon treating his various injuries downstairs in the infirmary. She couldn't hide the blush that was climbing up her neck. Fortunately, he wasn't looking at her. "I see," was all she could say.

"Here's the thing," Casey continued. "I don't have much to offer her. I'm not looking for anything long term or romantic."

Ellie winced. He certainly wasn't going out of his way to make this sound the least bit attractive was he? No wonder he never had a girlfriend in the two years that she had known him. "Wow, John," she said, probably more harshly than she intended. "It sounds like you're just looking to get laid. Did Carina cut you off?"

"I know that it probably sounds like that to you," Casey said sadly. "It's really not like that. I'm just not good at describing it. I don't know her very well, but I'd like to get to know her better. And what I do know I like… a lot. I care for her. She's very special. I would take very good care of her. I… I just can't be a boyfriend. I don't know how. I'm not wired that way. I can't do it."

Well, that sounded a little better. That's when Ellie started to consider the possibilities of what Casey was proposing. After all, she was a scientist. Every option in life had pros and cons.

She had to admit, there were some pros here. Let's face it. She had to be prepared to move on. Setting Devon free had been a calculated gamble. It was very possible that he would move on and that they were never going to happen again. And she certainly wasn't prepared to live the rest of her life in celibacy. The simple fact was, in the short term anyway, John was pretty much the only man available to her. And a woman could do a lot worse. He was sweet, lovable, and pretty darn sexy in his own way.

There was really only one con, but it was huge. She just couldn't see it happening, not this soon anyway. She was too hung up on Devon to even think about being in a relationship with another man. Even if it was only sex, she wasn't ready to hop into bed, or as he clearly seemed to be suggesting in this case, go for it right here on the dock. She maybe wasn't prepared to crush him by rejecting him outright but she also needed to slow him down and set some reasonable expectations to hopefully let him down easy. "Let's be honest," she said. "I think we both know who you're talking about. You have to understand that regular non-spy type ladies don't want the first words from a man to be inviting her into a sex-only relationship. It makes her sound like a cheap slut. It would have to start by being friends first, maybe for a long while. Could you promise her that you would take it slow and move forward with some discretion?"

"Of course," Casey said. "I would want that too."

"This particular woman is head over heels in love with someone else," Ellie said softly. "You do realize that, right? If he says the word, she is going to go running to him and never look back. Would you be able to handle that?"

"Of course," Casey said. "I completely understand that she was hung up on Devon once. I'm sorry but I'm absolutely positive that it's never going to happen, not now. I think in her heart she understands that too. If it did, I suppose I'd honestly be happy for her. Look, maybe I could help her get over him a little, hopefully move on and live her own life instead of pining for something that isn't going to ever happen. Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Ellie just looked at him. It was like a knife slashing through her heart when he said that he didn't think it was going to happen for her with Devon. But he wasn't trying to hurt her, he was just being honest. And he had a point. She had to be prepared to live a life without Devon. That night in Cancun when she reached for that negligee, she knew full well that her future with Devon was what she was risking. It's just that she really, really didn't want to face that quite yet. "Yes," she said, blinking away her tears. "It would be a good thing."

"So," Casey said. "How do I ask her?"

In spite of feeling pretty awful, that actually got a small smile. Wow, this guy was really horrible with women. He was actually asking her to make it this easy for him? Was he really asking her to make the first move? That was more than a little annoying. If he wanted her to ever consider some kind of relationship other than friends, the very least he could do was to ask. "You're going to have to lay it on the line for her," she said. "Tell her what you want and be honest about what you can and can't give her. Start by being her friend. It's probably going to take her a while. Make sure that she knows you're willing to wait to get physical until she's ready and that you're looking for more than just a conquest. She might say yes to that."

Casey nodded. "I can do that," he said. "Thanks for the help. She's working out with Sarah and Carina right now. Maybe I'll talk to her before we go on tonight's mission."

Suddenly his meaning became crystal clear. He had been talking about Misty all this time. She should have been relieved. She actually should have been very relieved. And it was in there in her confused mix of emotions somewhere. But why was she so pissed? It's just that she already had her complete fill of losing to that slut. "Misty?" she exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding me. Why is everybody so enamored with Misty?" When she saw Casey looking at her and realized that she had said that out loud, she really didn't know what to do. All she did know was that she couldn't face him. And there was only one way to avoid that. So she dove off the dock and into the water.

x-x-x-x-x

Steven was looking at his monitor intently when there came a knock at the partially open door. "Sarah," he said, without actually looking. "Please come in."

Sarah wasted no time getting to the point. "Chuck doesn't know I'm here," she said. "Dad, I need some frank information from you. What did Mom mean when she said that Chuck was in more danger than I realize?"

Steven smiled at his daughter-in-law. "I've been expecting you," he said. "Have a seat."

"No thank you," Sarah said. "Right now I'm too nervous to sit. I'd rather stand. Dad, please don't try and blow any smoke up my skirt. I think I deserve the truth. What's going on?"

"Of course you do," Steven said, keeping his smile. "Sarah, nobody is keeping anything from you. I promise."

"I'm sorry to sound skeptical," Sarah said nervously. "But it sort of sounds like it. What did Mom mean?"

"Look," Steven said as soothingly as he could. "Mary really wasn't telling you anything that you don't already know. We're concentrating on The Ring right now, and they are the biggest threat. Mary just wants to make sure that we don't forget about Fulcrum. That's been more her focus. They are still out there. They would still love to capture the Intersect."

"I guess I don't understand the difference between The Ring and Fulcrum," Sarah said. "Aren't they basically the same?"

"Sometimes," Steven said. "It's not as black and white as I'm describing it, but the Ring is more a high level executive planning group. Fulcrum is more an in-the-trenches organization. They work together sometimes when it meets their purposes. But now they are enemies. When the Ring takes power, one of the first things they are going to do is find and eliminate Fulcrum. Fulcrum knows too much. They know where the skeletons are buried."

"That's why they want the Intersect so badly," Sarah said suddenly as the light bulb went on.

"Exactly," Steven said. "I'm afraid that your husband is vital to both sides. The Ring wants to use the Intersect to identify the Fulcrum people so they can be quickly eliminated. He would also come in handy for dealing with the loyal military people who would oppose them, but they have other ways to do that. The Intersect would be the only practical way to quickly identify all of the Fulcrum people. Naturally, Fulcrum can't allow that to happen. They would love to have the Intersect for their very own. But at worst, they…"

"They would kill him," Sarah said sadly.

"I'm afraid so," Steven said. "They would kill him rather than allow the Ring to have him."

"How close are they?"

Steven paused for a long moment. "You really don't trust me," he said. "Do you?"

Sarah paused for a long moment herself. "No," she finally said. "Not totally." Then she sighed. "It hurts me to have to say that to you, Dad. I do trust that you're looking out for your son's best interests. But you also have your own secrets. There are clearly a lot of things you haven't told me. This house, for instance. This isn't random. It's designed as a training center for agents. You want to wait and tell us why together, okay fine. But there are some things that I refuse to be kept in the dark on. Now how close are they?"

Steven looked at her for a long time. "They're pretty close," he finally admitted. "That is why Mary was here today. For a long time, they didn't even know that Chuck was the Intersect. They were always looking for Bryce. Now, thanks to our new friend Daniel Shaw, they know all about Chuck. They also know about you. Fortunately, they don't yet know where he is. And we already have anybody they would use against him here with us. But they are getting closer. There is no denying that."

"What about Morgan?" Sarah asked.

"I'm really hoping that they don't make that connection," Steven said. "That would be bad. There is no reason to believe they will. It would really be better if Chuck didn't hear about this. Why worry him needlessly?"

"Do you have any good news?" Sarah asked sadly.

"Well," Steven said with a bit of a smile. "At least there is no one in Fulcrum who is looking to force you into becoming his personal plaything… no one that I'm aware of anyway."

That got the smile from Sarah that he was looking for. "Great," she said. "It's not much good news, but it is something. I won't tell Chuck anything about Morgan unless he asks me. But, Dad, I can't lie to him."

"I know," Steven said. "Don't worry, Sarah. We're going to protect him."

x-x-x-x-x

The cold water pretty much cleared Ellie's head the instant that she hit it. After swimming around for a few seconds she quickly realized that she hadn't thought this situation through very well. It seemed like a good idea at the time but she was going to have to eventually face him. He was her ride back. Worse yet, the t-shirt that she thought was fairly conservative when she picked it out this morning had simply up and disappeared on her now that it was wet. That made her decision not to wear a bra, which this morning also seemed appropriately conservative, even more apparent. Like it or not, she was basically now topless. The good news was at this point she was too embarrassed and frankly too pissed off to really care any more what he saw. She definitely didn't want to have to explain going back to the house in wet clothes for the second day in a row. So as soon as she got out of the water she just pulled off her dripping wet t-shirt, wrung it out as best she could, and spread it on the grass to dry. Then she took off her shorts and put them next to it. That left her wearing only her, also now mostly invisible, bikini briefs. She intentionally made no attempt to cover herself. Let the bastard look. After all, he wasn't seeing anything that she hadn't already shown to a drug lord in Mexico. Besides, he had already seen everything she had on the surveillance tapes more times then she was comfortable even thinking about anyway. Maybe the pervert deserved the live view this once. He clearly wasn't interested anyway. She just turned to face him with her hands on her hips defiantly as Casey walked up.

Casey was being as much of a gentleman as he possibly could. He tried hard not to gawk. He conspicuously averted his eyes as he held the blanket out for her and wrapped her in it. "I'm very sorry," was all he said. "I just realized what that sounded like to you. That was insensitive of me."

The blanket actually felt good. The combination of being naked, being wet, and the breeze coming off the water had her starting to shiver. "You don't have to be sorry," Ellie snapped. "I'm actually happy that you were talking about Misty. I get it."

"You don't get it," Casey snapped right back. "At all. It's actually amazing that such a brilliant woman could be so clueless."

Ellie just glared at him for a long while. "What don't I get?" she finally asked.

"Let's make a list, shall we?" Casey asked sarcastically. "For one thing, it's pretty obvious to everyone who is paying the least bit of attention that you're marrying Devon as soon as we can work out the logistics. It pisses me off a little that you would think that I brought you out here to hit on you. Devon is actually one of the very few people in my life that I would call my friend. As an honorable man, that single fact on it's own makes you completely off limits to me. I give him until sometime tonight before he comes crawling to you begging you to take him back."

Well, that was definitely the right thing to say to improve her mood. She immediately perked up. "Do you really think so?" she asked. "Why do you think that?"

Casey could just shake his head at her still apparent total lack of a clue. "Have you seen him?" he asked incredulously. "The poor bastard is moping around the house like a lovesick teenager. It's pathetic. I can't believe you don't know that. You're probably the only one who doesn't. Besides, I'm not guessing here. I've talked to him. Misty talked to him. Sarah talked to him. I think that even Chuck talked to him. He would have talked to you already except he's afraid that you need some space. We all told him how stupid he is being. If anything, he's afraid that you won't take him back. He understands now that he's not good enough for you."

That got the smile, actually more than a smile, her face was beaming. "Why would you say that he's not good enough for me?" she asked coyly.

"Because he's not," Casey said, in now mock annoyance. "But then, no one is. You're the most incredible woman I've ever met. You're this amazing package of brilliant and beautiful and down to earth, and fun to be around. You're that rare person who is equally at home in a technical discussion with a group of scientists in white jackets, sipping martini's and talking politics with jet setters in tuxedos and evening gowns, or debating fantasy football game strategy with the frat boys in jeans and sweatshirts. In any and all of those situations, every single eye would be on you. Whoever you are with should understand how lucky he is. He should worship you, put you on a pedestal, thank you every single day of your life. I spent a whole very long two weeks living with Devon. The man never… stops… talking… ever. And you're all he talked about. Trust me on this one. He completely understands how lucky he is."

Now Ellie was blushing. She had never heard Casey on such a rant. But he could go on forever for all she cared.

"Besides, I would kick anybody's ass that disrespected you by suggesting that you would settle for what you were just thinking," he continued. "You're much too special for that. You really need to wake up and start seeing yourself the way everybody else sees you."

To say that was what Ellie needed to hear was so ridiculous of an understatement as to be, well, ridiculous. "Thank you, John," she said. "That was very sweet. I guess I needed to hear that. You've been a good friend. I'm sorry that I went nuts and flashed you. I'm embarrassed."

Casey's face turned into his own beaming grin. "Don't be sorry about that," he teased. "That's the one thing that you don't have to be sorry for. Watching you take off that wet t-shirt just now might have been the very highlight of my life. Do you think that maybe you could put it back on and then take it off again, a little slower this time?"

That actually broke the tension and they both started laughing. Ellie leaned in and buried her face in his chest. "I'm afraid not," she said while still laughing. "But thank you. I think, anyway. Do I dare ask what the highlight of your life was before today?"

That got them really laughing. "I don't think so," Casey said.

They just stood there for a long while laughing. "Do you really think that Devon is going to come back to me?" she finally asked softly. "I really miss him." The vulnerability in her voice was plain.

Casey wrapped his arms around his now close, life-long friend, who was standing there wearing just a blanket. Ignoring the fact that her wet hair was soaking through his own t-shirt he pulled her close. "I don't think," he said. "I'm absolutely positive."

It had been an incredible afternoon. That was something of an understatement. But for the first time in a while, Ellie now had some hope that it was going to be okay. And if Devon did come back, she vowed to never take him for granted again. But more than that, she now had a new man in her life. No, John would never be her lover. But he was now much more important than that. He was someone who she knew that she could trust… and he would be for the rest of her life. She had to whisper to keep her voice from breaking. "Thank you, sweetie," she said.

"That Misty is a lucky girl."

x-x-x-x-x


	30. Just Not With Each Other

_Okay. My friend Lucky47 and I just made a deal. We would both write chapters that included The Montgomery. If you're not reading Family Matters (for one thing, what's wrong with you?) you'll miss the fact that our outcomes are polar opposite. It turns out that The Montgomery is sort of like hypnosis. It can't make you do something that you wouldn't want to do anyway. Anyway, next chapter we're going to make a deal to both have Chuck and Sarah have hot steamy sex that pushes the very boundaries of our T ratings. Unfortunately, she doesn't actually know about that deal yet. I may need your help talking her into it, lol._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Just Not With Each Other**

x-x-x-x-x

_If you love something, set it free. If it returns, it is yours forever. If it doesn't return, it was never yours to begin with. – E. Bartowski Woodcomb_

x-x-x-x-x

Misty was in the workout room with Devon. He had been spending most of his time in here since the breakup. When Sarah walked in, both Devon and Misty came to the exact same conclusion - which was that she was there to see the other. They both stumbled over each other offering to leave. But to their surprise, she wanted to talk to them both.

"Look," Sarah said shakily. "I only have a minute. I have to get back to Chuck. Ellie doesn't know that I'm doing this. Maybe she wouldn't even like it. After all, I'm pretty horrible at talking about this kind of stuff. And we really don't know each other all that well. I like to think that we're on the path to being friends. But I don't claim to be impartial here. Ellie is my sister. I love her unconditionally. She is the person who I look up to, the model for what I would like to become. The fact remains that I was there in Cancun when this all went down. So I think I know what happened and more or less why. Maybe I can help."

Devon and Misty looked at each other for a long moment. Finally Misty was the one to respond. She wasn't confrontational, but she wasn't exactly friendly either. "She cheated on him," she said. "How can you explain that?"

"She didn't cheat on him," Sarah quickly responded. "Not really. Look, I'm not totally defending what Ellie did. I think it was wrong. If she was standing here, she would be the first one to tell you that it was wrong. But please don't mischaracterize it. It was only one kiss."

"It was only one kiss," Misty said. "If you believe her."

Sarah's voice lost most of it's friendly tone. "And I do," she said firmly. "Completely. Say what you want about Ellie, but she is not a liar. I would bet my life on that. She would have no reason to lie. The truth is bad enough. She wasn't even kissing Cole. She was caught up in the exciting life of a spy. She was feeling trapped in being responsible Dr. Eleanor Bartowski. Misty, you got the chance to be a teen and sow your wild oats. Devon, so did you. Ellie never did. She was the mom of the family before she was wearing a bra, a single parent before she could drive. She had lived her whole life never having done anything wild, because she simply couldn't afford it. It wasn't an option for her. Too many people were depending on her. Then suddenly one day she finds herself thrown into this totally foreign high-octane spy world where bad guys are shooting at her, love is for suckers, and sex is a feel good release of tension without consequences. And she realized that she had been living her life with blinders on. How could she possibly commit to a life with Devon without knowing the other side? She wanted… no, she needed to find out what that felt like just once. She was sick about possibly hurting him. I know that for a fact. If you don't understand that, you don't know her very well. But she decided that she had to know, that she couldn't live the rest of her life wondering if she was missing something. Did she make a great decision that night? Probably not. I blame myself for a lot of that. If I had been the friend she deserves, I probably could have talked her through it. I understood what she was going through. I was just too consumed with my own problems at the time. I'm pretty ashamed of that. I'm actually proud of her that she figured out what she really wanted so quickly on her own."

"I believe her," Devon finally said. "Of course I do. But why would she break up with me? I don't think I did anything wrong."

To Sarah's surprise, it was Misty who answered. "She wasn't doing anything to you, Devon," Misty said soothingly. "She was doing something for you. Ellie doesn't think that you did anything wrong. She understands that you're the victim here. She knows that she's unfairly hurt you. She also knows that you are much too loyal to ever dump her. You would just suffer for the rest of your life in silence. She couldn't bear the thought of that happening. So she took the bullet for you. She became the bad guy and allowed you the freedom to choose. Now you're honestly free to make any decision you want. If you ultimately can't forgive her, now you can move on without any guilt. I've been pretty harsh in my judgments about her. I make no apologies for that. But I have to admit, she did the right thing. Actually what Ellie did was incredibly noble. It was done out of love. Whatever else you might think about her, you have to give her that."

Devon looked at Sarah questioningly. Sarah looked up from wiping her eyes and nodded. "Misty is right, Devon," she said. "She just said it a lot better than I could. Ellie desperately loves you. She hopes that you'll think about it for a few days and conclude that you can let this go. But she knows it's entirely possible that you won't be able to. And if that happens, you'll be blameless. She knows that it will be totally her fault."

Misty turned to Sarah. Her tone also had no give. "For the record, I'm not saying that I don't believe Ellie," she said. "I actually do believe her. I was simply pointing out that it's not important what you or I think. It's what Devon thinks that matters. Again, just for the record, I don't claim to be impartial here either. I want what's best for my friend, who I love, just as much as you do."

Sarah nodded. "Agreed," she sighed. "You're looking out for your friend. That's what you should do. I'm sorry if I took offense. That's really all I wanted to say. Thank you for listening."

As soon as Sarah left, Devon sighed. "So, what should I do?" he asked, more to himself than Misty.

Misty turned back to Devon. "No one can answer that for you," she said. "You're the only one who can decide if you're willing to let this go and not have it drive you crazy. I can see both sides. She clearly walked out of that bathroom basically naked and had every intention of screwing another man that night knowing full well that she was betraying you. She herself freely admits that. You would be perfectly within your rights to consider that she cheated on you and move on. But I can also see that there were special circumstances and she didn't actually do much. If she stopped purely from guilt, that wouldn't be as meaningful. But if you believe her, she stopped because she realized what she wanted."

Devon smiled. "You're really not helping," he said.

Misty smiled back. "I know," she said. "You know that I love you. But I can't make this call for you. I know what I would do. I know what I hope you'll do. You and I both know that you'll always be in love with Ellie. But can you get over this? Look, Devon, Ellie messed up. I don't think anybody would dispute that. But twenty years from now what would you prefer, an imperfect Ellie, or a life without her?"

"You can have either."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was in her room getting ready for bed. It was actually a bit early for that, but what else did she have to do? Everyone else except Dad was on their seduction mission. So when the knock came at the door, who else but Dad could it be? She was fairly surprised when it was Misty who was standing there in a t-shirt and jeans. "Hey," she said in surprise. "I didn't expect you back so early. Is everybody back?"

"Everybody but Carina," Misty said. "I don't think we'll be seeing her for a while."

"I take it that it went well," Ellie said in relief. "How did your part go?"

"It was fine," Misty sighed. "I was really nervous. But Sarah was talking in my ear the whole time, so that made it a lot easier. My only job was to get him out of that bar and he was all over that idea. He was more than a little creepy. Sarah was sure right about that. But we just went dancing. I had to put up with his hands on my ass more than a couple of times. I guess that's one good thing about my job in Vegas, you get used to having men's hands on your ass. I was finally able to claim a headache and get out of anything serious. It was sort of like a bad blind date."

Ellie looked at Misty's face carefully. It was impossible to read her expression, but she clearly had some other reason for being here besides briefing her on the mission. They might as well get to it. "That's good," she said. "So what else is up?"

"I'm on another mission," Misty said with a growing smile. "It's a little riskier than the first one. Unfortunately for me, Sarah isn't here to talk me through it this time. This one is for my friend. Devon would like to ask you out on a date."

That got a grin. "Really?" Ellie said. "Why can't he ask me himself? He's never been shy about that."

"You'll see," Misty said with something of her own grin. "I don't want to say too much. It's something of a surprise. He's waiting for you downstairs."

"Okay," Ellie said. But when she went to walk out the door, Misty stood in her way. For the first time, Ellie realized that she was holding something.

"You're not going to wear that, are you?" Misty asked. "Trust me. You'll want to be wearing something other than a t-shirt and panties. It might be better if you would dress up a little." She handed Ellie the dress that she was holding. "Maybe you could take off the t-shirt and put this on. The panties are optional."

Ellie looked at the dress. "Wow," she said in a teasing tone. "This is pretty revealing for just a date. What kind of message would that send?"

Misty smiled. "Hopefully one that you're not planning on wearing it very long," she said in the same teasing tone. "That's why the panties are optional." Then she got serious. "Look, Ellie," she said. "This may not be my place. But Devon is really hurting. He's a complete train wreck, afraid that you've moved on. Have you? I'm sorry to be so pushy, but if you have, I want to make sure that I'm there to help pick up the pieces."

"You're not being pushy at all," Ellie said. "You're just being his friend. I want you to know how sorry I am that I was jealous of you. That was unfair. Thank you for being there for him. To answer your question, of course I haven't moved on. I love him more than I can say. I understand that you might have legitimate doubts about that. I promise that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you won't doubt it any longer. It makes me feel horrible to hear that he's hurting… and especially because of me. You can count on me to do anything in my power to fix that as soon as I possibly can."

Misty visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," she said. "For what it's worth, I don't doubt that any more. Speaking of being jealous, you should know something. She might be pissed at me for telling you this, but Sarah really went to bat for you with Devon. She was probably the one who made him see how silly he was being."

"Oh lord," Ellie said. "Did she threaten to shoot him in the head ten to twelve times?"

That got Misty laughing. "I'm not sure," she said. "Maybe it was implied." Then she got more serious. "She talked to Devon about what you were going through in Cancun. She made him see that it really wasn't about him at all. That clearly wasn't easy for her to do. She really, really loves you."

"I know," Ellie said. "My being jealous of Sarah and you was silly. I'm sorry."

"So," Misty said, clearly eager to change the subject. "Maybe you could make things a little easy for Devon tonight? I've never seen him so nervous."

Ellie laughed. "Wow," she said. "You're really into playing cupid, huh? It's okay, I like doing that too. I'll make you a deal. I'll make it very easy on Devon tonight if you'll make it easy on Casey."

Misty immediately blushed. "I'm not sure that Casey is all that interested in me making anything easy for him," she said. "If he was, I don't think he would need any help. Besides, he seems to be spending all of his free time with another woman."

Ellie laughed out loud. "Touché," she said. "You of all people should know that a man and woman can be good friends without it being romantic. Yes, I haven't been very fair to you. I'd really like a chance to make that up to you. But please don't hold my bad behavior against Casey."

"Actually," Misty said with a grin. "I did know that. I was kinda talking about Carina. What's up with the two of them?"

"I see," Ellie said with a laugh. "Jealous on many levels, I can relate to that. I'm afraid that I can't help you much there. Maybe Sarah would be a better one to talk to for specifics. But trust me. All he could talk about today was how much he'd like the chance to get close to you. He may not be the smoothest man with women that I've ever met, but his heart is pure gold. If you would help him out a little, you'll find that out quickly."

"Okay," Misty said. "I could probably do that. I've been trying to send him all the subtle signals I could think of. Maybe it's time to get less subtle. What should I do, pull a gun on him and force him to kiss me?"

Ellie laughed again. "That might work," she said. "Or if you wanted to go for just a notch more subtle, go knock on his door and tell him that Ellie suggested that he take you for a midnight swim," Ellie said. "You'll see. He's really a great guy."

Misty was confused… and said so. "Swim?" she asked. "Where is there a place to swim? I don't have a suit."

"I know," Ellie answered. "That's kind of the point. Once you're in the water, it's going to be dark. You might have to feel your way. Umm, Misty, I'm really hoping that I don't have to spell out what you should do next."

Now it was Misty's turn to laugh out loud. "I think I can take it from there," she said. "You're right, that is only a notch more subtle."

"Exactly," Ellie said with a grin. "We're actually in somewhat of the same situation. You're trying to get your friend laid tonight, well so am I."

"I'll do my part if you will."

x-x-x-x-x

It took Ellie a few minutes to get ready. Misty's dress required that her hair be pulled up to look right. She also wanted to spend some time making sure her makeup was perfect. After all, Devon was clearly making a big deal out of this. She decided to show her appreciation for the gesture and take it just as seriously. When she walked down the stairs, she immediately noticed the dining room was dark, except for the candles. As she walked up to the table, she saw the single red rose lying there. That was a nice touch. She picked it up and gently smelled it. Then she noticed the bottle of champagne chilling. She picked it up and read the label – Chateau Margeau - 1992. She had never heard of that particular vintage, but it sure looked expensive. Of course, none of this was even remotely at all necessary. But it was sure sweet that he was clearly making such a romantic effort.

"I was starting to worry that you weren't going to come."

When Ellie looked up she saw Devon… and actually gasped. She could literally feel all the strength leave her knees. He looked… well, like something right off the page of a romance magazine. Even if she hadn't already been totally in the mood, that white dinner jacket had her ready to peal off Misty's dress, which quite honestly was screaming 'take me off' while it was still on the hanger anyway, and go for it right there on the dining room table.

"You look so beautiful," Devon said as he stepped up to her. "Would you care to dance?"

Ellie had been so keyed up that she hadn't heard the soft music playing. The situation was so overtly romantic that she knew if she tried to speak she would just sound stupid. So she simply smiled and nodded.

"Look, I've been such a jackass," Devon said as they began to sway to the music. "I'm so sorry. I've missed you. I've missed us. The past two days without you have made me understand what's important. I'm just hoping that we can get back to where we were before all this silliness. If you'll help me out and just tell me what I need to do to make that happen, I promise that I'll kill myself doing it."

Ellie smiled at his nervousness. It seemed a shame to waste such a romantic moment, but Misty's plea to make this easy on him came to her mind. And who are we kidding? She was ready to start ripping his clothes off anyway. So she just wrapped her arms about his neck and pressed her lips to his. It didn't take long at all for their tongues to dance in their very familiar way. As soon as that long kiss broke, both instinctively knew that it was just Ellie and Devon standing there again. They were back. Ellie smiled. "Anything?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Please don't say that you're sorry," Ellie said. "That just makes me feel worse. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I'm the only one who has anything to apologize for, and not just for what happened in Cancun. I've learned a lot about myself in these past two days as well. I've learned that there is a big difference between being comfortable and taking things for granted. The simple fact is that I've taken us… I've taken you for granted. I'm very ashamed of that. I know that I don't deserve a second chance. But if you could find it in your heart to give me one, I promise that I'll never ever take you for granted again."

Devon just pulled her close. "You don't need a second chance," he said. "You're being silly. I love you, Ellie. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. That's never going to change."

Ellie tried hard to keep her voice from breaking, she just couldn't do it. "Me too," she choked out. "So if you're sure, do you think that maybe I could have my ring back? I've really missed wearing it."

"Of course," Devon said as he took the ring out of his pocket and slid it back on her offered finger. "You don't have anything to be sorry about either. It's over. Let's just get on with our life."

Ellie tried to wipe the relieved, happy tears from her eyes, but it was a losing battle. "I know that you have this whole romantic date thing planned," she said. "I really hate to spoil it. But do you think we could blow out the candles, take the wine upstairs, help me put Misty's dress back on the hanger where it belongs, and let me spend the rest of the night proving to you over and over how much I've missed the love of my life?"

"Absolutely," Devon said as the smile consumed his face. "Before I forget, I have to tell you something. Sarah really went to bat for you. She really loves you."

Ellie continued trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I know," she said. "She's an amazing friend. I have to thank her."

"But not tonight," Devon said in semi-alarm.

That got the laugh through her tears that he was looking for. "No," she said. "Not tonight. I have more important things to do tonight."

"Good," Devon said as he led her to the stairs. "I have to thank Chuck too. He was sure right."

"This Montgomery thing really works."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah stood huddled together looking out their bedroom window watching and giggling as Casey and Misty left for their midnight date. "Do you think they have a chance?" Chuck finally asked as he turned away.

Sarah immediately knew what he meant. Normally she would have scoffed at the suggestion that Casey would ever allow himself to fall in love. But tonight, for some reason it didn't seem quite so impossible. "I don't know, sweetie," she sighed as she watched the taillights fade into the darkness. "Casey's not exactly the romantic type. But Misty is pretty special. If you had to pick a non-spy girl to break down his walls, it very well might be her. She's perfect for him."

"I know," Chuck said as he stepped out of the bathroom holding a bouquet of gardenias and handed them to her. "Before I forget, these are for you."

Sarah was so stunned that didn't say anything at first. She just took the flowers and gently smelled them. "Where did you get these?" she finally asked.

"Why are you looking so surprised?" Chuck asked. "Did you really think that I was going to watch Devon buy Ellie a rose and let you be the only woman in the house to not get romanced tonight? I mean, I know it's no Montgomery. We might be the old, married couple of the family, but come on. The kid's still got a few moves."

Sarah actually had to blink back a few tears. She was still shaken by her conversation earlier with Dad. The news about Fulcrum had that all too familiar sinking feeling back in the pit of her stomach. He must have known this was exactly what she needed tonight. And it wasn't any cliché move like a Montgomery. That was more Bryce's style. All Chuck did was pick out her favorite flower… and tell her how much he loved her. And that turned her mood completely around. Why was she surprised? After all, he always knew what she needed. It was like he had some strange sixth sense about it… and always, without fail, delivered. "With the news about your mom being here earlier you're just worried that you're the only man in the house not getting lucky today," she teased with a smile. "Admit it."

"I'm actually trying to not think about my mom and dad that way," Chuck said with his own smile. "Thank you for reminding me. But I remembered what you said the other night about you and Bryce. That what you had wasn't a romance and he never brought you flowers. It struck me that I never have either. I'm more than a little embarrassed about that. I just wanted to remind you that what we have is indeed a romance… and that I love you more than I could ever say with words. I'm sorry that it's taken me this long on the flowers. I promise to not make you wait so long next time."

"I appreciate the effort," Sarah said as she put the flowers in the empty vase that just happened to be sitting on the end table. "But one thing is for sure. I totally understand what we have. It is far more than just a romance. You've made me the princess in a freaking fairy tale. I'm not sure how to begin to thank you for that. Someday you'll have to tell me how you always know exactly what it is that I need to hear. I'm not nearly as good at that. So if there is ever anything that you need from me, you might have to ask. But please know that it's yours."

"Well," Chuck said as his face bloomed into his classic grin. "Since you brought it up, I'd have to admit. I wouldn't be too wild about being the only man in the house to not get seduced today."

Sarah stepped up and pressed her lips to his. "Okay, sweet talker," she said as soon as the kiss broke. "You said that you've still got some moves. Well, so do I." Then she pushed Chuck until he was sitting on the bed.

"Why don't you relax for a few minutes and let me show them to you?"

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was clearly nervous as they approached the lake. It was a beautiful, clear night. But once they turned the headlights of the ATV off, it was dark, really dark, can't see your hand in front of your face dark. Naturally, Misty figured that Casey had to know what she had in mind tonight, right? _I mean, Ellie called it a notch more subtle, but it was only a small notch. After all, a midnight swim? No swimming suits? Come on, Casey. How easy does this have to be?_

Honestly, Casey was so nervous that it was making Misty nervous. So she decided to address it. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Casey was typical Casey. "Nothing is wrong," he insisted. "What makes you think something is wrong?"

That frustrated her. And when Misty was frustrated, she acted impulsively. So she decided to grab the bull by the horns and just smashed her mouth against his. Whatever apprehension Casey was feeling quite frankly quickly melted away. For her part, Misty had never felt anything like the electricity that was so clearly flowing between them. As their tongues danced for that very first time, she could feel the tension from both of them quickly leave. "Because you haven't done that yet," Misty said with a grin as soon as the long kiss broke. "Ellie said that you were shy and that I would have to make this easy for you, but come on, Casey. Work with me here a little."

"I'm sorry," Casey said. 'It's really not like that. I just don't want to scare you off. What should we do next?"

Misty grinned. Ellie was right. He wasn't the smoothest guy with women. But that was actually a good thing. It was incredibly cute. And she had been around enough men that were smooth with women. That usually meant they were looking for one thing… and when they got it, would quickly lose interest. Misty quickly decided that she was more than willing to take charge of the evening's activities. "Look, Casey," she said. "I want to make sure that you understand something. I know that you see a cocktail waitress who walks around every night in an almost not there outfit for tips. You clearly saw that I tried to seduce Devon. And yes, I'm being aggressive here tonight. So I can see how all of that would lead you to a certain conclusion. I might be willing to make things a little easy for you here but I'm not a slut, Casey. I'm not. I'm usually not like this at all. I can't stand you thinking that."

"I don't think that at all," Casey insisted. "Who could possibly think of you as a slut? That's ridiculous. When I look at you, I see… Wow, I see someone amazing, someone alive, someone bold, someone who is willing to take risks. I see someone who I'd like to get to know better, hopefully a lot better. I'll not deny that I think you're probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Yes, I'll admit that makes me nervous. I'm sorry if that makes me look like an idiot. I know full well that probably doesn't sound genuine to you. I don't blame you for that. You've probably had tons of men tell you that to try and score with you. But I'm not that guy. I'll also not deny that I'm incredibly physically attracted to you. But it's more than just that. I'm looking for far more than just some conquest. If us doing anything physical tonight is going to hurt my chances for that, let's wait."

Misty was floored. "Ellie said that you weren't smooth with women," she said softy. "So where did that just come from? I'll not deny that I'm incredibly attracted to you too. I feel like we've known each other for a long time, even though it's only been a few days. So I'm ready to take the next step right now. But you're right. This is technically our first date. If it is going to hurt our chances to get closer, I'll wait with you. How long do you want to wait?"

"Where did I lose control of this conversation?" Casey asked with a laugh. "I don't want to wait. I'm just saying that I'm willing too. How should we resolve this?"

Misty laughed. "Well we came out here to go swimming," she said as she pealed off her t-shirt. "I'll tell you what. See that tree hanging down over the water? Let's race there. Winner gets to pick what we do next, wait or go for it tonight."

Casey looked at her. It was pitch black. Her silhouette as she bent down to slide off her jeans was all that he could see. But even that was simply incredible. It was perhaps the sexiest sight of his life. "That has to be three hundred yards," he said with a smile. "It's a lot farther than it looks. Just so we understand each other, if I win I'm going to go for it. Are you sure that you're okay with that?"

"Guess what, Casey?" Misty asked. "If I win, I'm going to go for it too. Are you sure that you're okay with that?

"Do you still want to do this?" he asked. "It sounds like it doesn't matter who wins. Are you sure that you can swim that far?"

Casey was actually a very strong swimmer. At one time he considered joining the Navy Seals. Of course he had no way of knowing that Misty had been three time first team all Big 12 conference in the thousand meter freestyle. She still held the record at Iowa State for that event. Dad had never wanted her to take the scholarship they were always offering, because he didn't want swimming to take priority over academics. She was even invited to the Olympic tryouts. And even though she was disappointed that she didn't quite make the team, the experience was still one of the highlights of her life.

It had been a long time since Misty had swum competitively, after all Vegas was not exactly a swimming Mecca, but she was still pretty sure that, if she wanted to, she was easily going to get to pick what they did next. Her only challenge was not to tire him out too badly. But maybe it might be better to let him win. After all, they were both going to choose the same thing. And his thinking he could out-swim her might be something that could possibly come in handy someday. "I think so," she said with a smile as she grabbed his hand and led him into the water.

Yup, it could come in really handy someday.

x-x-x-x-x

_As much as they were polar opposites, Casey and Ellie would remain unbelievably close for the rest of their lives. It was an odd-couple type relationship that quite frankly nobody but them actually understood. Years later, even Chuck and Sarah often watched them giggling about some random thing that nobody else found all that funny, leaning on each other to keep from falling to the floor in laughter, and were forced to look at each other and simply scratch their heads in confusion._

_Casey wasn't the most patient person to begin with. But even Ellie had quickly grown tired of trying to explain their relationship to people. Anybody that mattered just accepted it for what it was – simply one of those odd things in life that was unexplainable._

_It was actually Ellie more than anyone who helped Casey on his long journey as he grew into being a real boyfriend, and even eventually into a loving husband and father. Fortunately Misty totally got that… and was grateful. If she was ever truly jealous of anyone, it was Carina. After all, Casey and Carina would remain partners. They still had the occasional mission. Carina was always a natural flirt and they honestly had a couple of times where missions forced them into delicate situations. Misty tried her best to understand but her and Carina clearly had some tension. They even had a couple of eyeball-to-eyeball moments of their own where it looked pretty grim for a while. But eventually even that relationship finally worked out._

_Many years later, people who didn't know them well would see the six of them out someplace as they almost always were, and become confused over which ones were actually the three married couples. Well, that wasn't totally true. Nobody ever had any problem figuring out Chuck and Sarah as a couple since Sarah made sure that they were almost always touching in some way. Most times it was just innocent hand holding. But she also wasn't above reaching under the tablecloth on occasion and seeing how red she could get his face._

_Ellie and Misty likewise weren't above intentionally dressing alike and playfully contributing to people's confusion sometimes, especially once they figured out that the game mildly annoyed the guys. It was Chuck who first labeled it a trapezoid, just as a joke, but the term sort of stuck._

_Ellie enjoyed teasing Casey. She always had. She was the one person who could get him to blush almost at will. And she used that against him un-mercilessly. Not that he minded all that much. He had his own things to use to get even. And he also wasn't shy about using them._

_But once they found out that Casey already had a daughter, and that she was a grown woman not all that much younger than his new wife, the good natured teasing shifted into a new gear. And it wasn't only Casey who became the target. It was Ellie who first put Alex up to calling Misty 'Mom', purely as a prank. They all laughed about Misty virtually choking on her drink for years. Even Misty found the humor in it… eventually._

_And throughout the years they both would always remember this particular day fondly. Ellie would constantly tease him about it, mostly out of Devon and Misty's earshot, but not always. They had both heard the story many times, and now just shook their heads whenever she brought it up. It was the day that Casey first got Ellie naked and they had sex. And, of course, that was all technically true._

_Just not with each other._

x-x-x-x-x


	31. Rope a Dope

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Rope a Dope**

x-x-x-x-x

_If you hurt me once, shame on you. If you hurt me twice, shame on me… for not making damn sure you were really dead the first time. – S. Walker Bartowski_

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were lying in their favorite position. Well, let's make that their favorite resting position. Chuck was on his back and Sarah had her head resting on his chest listening to his heart beating. Even though the sunlight was beginning to peek through the curtains, Chuck was still sleeping. Sarah had been awake for a while. After all, she was well rested having again been put to sleep early by one of her husband's amazing back rubs. She was engaged in her favorite activity. Well, let's make that her favorite resting activity. She was lying there watching her guy sleep.

Sarah was trying her best to stay calm. But yesterday's conversation with Dad kept ringing in her ears. Not even Chuck's oh so adorable soft snoring could keep that familiar sinking feeling she had lived with constantly for the past two years out of the pit of her stomach. She had been so happy to be married that she had almost forgotten what it felt like. But now it was back with a vengeance. Fulcrum now knew about Chuck. And they were closing in.

Sarah didn't know all that much about The Ring. Her only direct exposure was this Daniel Shaw slime ball and even then, she had only talked to him on the phone. But she knew all about Fulcrum. She had been fighting against them her entire career and was well aware of how ruthless they were. They might kill Chuck, but falling into their hands would be even worse. They wouldn't bother to ask for Chuck's cooperation. They would simply extract it with whatever brutal method was fastest. They would use drugs and torture and force him to watch while his loved ones were slowly killed or even worse in the most painful and degrading ways possible. They would enjoy getting revenge for the past two years of humiliating defeats by breaking him physically and emotionally. And when they finally decided that he was of no more use and killed him, it would be doing him a favor.

That's when she first started thinking about trying to bargain a way out of this. Yes, she fully recognized that there was a measure of desperation in that idea. But at least the Ring saw Chuck as a valuable asset. They knew that his greatest value could only be obtained if he cooperated voluntarily. If Chuck wanted to, he could be invaluable to them. That gave him a fair amount of bargaining power. Sarah had to admit, they could probably negotiate a fairly comfortable life in exchange for his services. They could more than likely use their leverage to get the house with the white picket fence, a generous salary, their family and friends off-limits from any persecution, and an environment to quietly raise their family in upscale comfort and peace.

There were only a couple of problems with that thought… but they were huge ones. Sarah was forced to smile as she watched her guy lying there sleeping. She was no longer this naïve schoolgirl who thought that all orders represented the right thing. She knew that people in power under the best of circumstances sometimes made decisions for less than noble reasons. And blindly following those orders made you a tool in that less than noble thing. She had conditioned herself over the years to not think too much about it. But these were far from the best of circumstances. This group was evil.

Besides, Chuck was made up completely different from her. It was a big reason why she loved him so desperately. He would never be okay knowing that he was being used for evil purposes. The first major task, finding and eliminating Fulcrum wouldn't be too bad. It might even be a little fun for the first year or so. But it would all too quickly be over. And then to keep his value, Chuck would have to become the tool of the secret police. Sarah knew enough about how dictatorships worked to know that any opposition was eliminated as quickly and quietly as possible. And the intersect would be one of the chief weapons in that task. She might be able to talk him into holding his nose in exchange for a life raising their family in relative comfort. She would even be there to talk him through the rough times… but it would surely affect him.

Then there was this Daniel Shaw dickhead. Sarah knew full well what he wanted from her. And it was far more than just seeing her in some lingerie or sleeping with him a couple of times. Chuck was actually wrong about that. If that's all it would take to keep him safe, there was a recent time in her life when she would have probably just held her nose, gone secretly behind Chuck's back, and worked something out with him. But there were two major problems with that. First, it wouldn't be enough. He wanted to see how far he could push her. He wanted her broken submission. If she did ever sleep with him, he would just use that as leverage to demand more and more and constantly more from her. But Sarah smiled again as she pondered the second, even bigger problem. She was no longer that person… and she didn't want to be. She was now Sarah Bartowski, devoted wife to one Charles Bartowski. Agent Walker was a bad dream, a rapidly fading memory. Sarah actually liked herself now. Whatever deal they negotiated had to include being guaranteed that Daniel Shaw would keep his distance. That adorable guy lying there softly snoring deserved no less. So holding her nose was thankfully off the table.

But there was the conundrum. First, he deserved to live and to do that he definitely needed Agent Walker to protect him. But he also desperately needed to feel loved. He needed to know that his wife was there for him emotionally without having to worry about what methods she might be employing behind his back.

"Good morning, beautiful."

Sarah was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that his eyes were open. She had been called beautiful so many times that she was pretty much immune to it. She sort of blocked it out of her mind. So why was it that when Chuck called her beautiful, she always blushed like a high school girl asked to her first dance? "Good morning," she said with a smile as soon as the customary good-morning kiss broke.

Chuck looked at her for a long moment. "Something's wrong," he finally said. "When are you going to tell me about it?"

At first Sarah tried to laugh it off. "What makes you think something is wrong?" she asked. "Because you've been awake for two whole minutes and I haven't tried to seduce you yet? Maybe I've decided that you're taking our sex life for granted and I'm going to make you sweat it out for five minutes. But don't worry, Chuck. I'm not going to make you wait long. I'll get around to it."

But that didn't get the laugh she was hoping for. "Are you really going to try and tell me that nothing is wrong?" he asked. The hurt in his voice was plain.

Sarah immediately mentally kicked herself. The last thing that she wanted to do was to worry him. And she wasn't really mentally prepared to have this discussion with him just yet. But she also knew that it was pointless to try and hide anything from Chuck. Not only would it be wrong, it would be stupid. He could read her like a road sign. "I'm just worried about what your mom said," she sighed.

Chuck sat up in bed and looked at her. "What did Dad say when you asked him about it?" he asked.

"Dad?" Sarah asked in surprise.

That got Chuck frustrated. "Come on, Sarah," he said, perhaps a little more strongly than he originally intended. "Are you really going to lay there and tell me that you didn't go and see Dad yesterday on your way to talk to Devon?"

"Please don't be mad at me," Sarah quickly said. "I don't think I could take that right now. Yes, I went in for a minute and asked Dad about what she said. Okay, I didn't tell you, but I'm not trying to hide anything from you. I just don't want to worry you."

That caused Chuck to sit on the side of the bed. "Worry me about what?" he asked.

Sarah paused for a long moment. "Chuck, do we really have to have this conversation right now?" she finally asked.

"Worry me about what?" Chuck asked, even more insistently.

Sarah just looked at him for a long time. "Fulcrum," she finally sighed. "They are still after you. Your mom thinks they are getting closer."

Chuck wasn't impressed. "So?" he asked dismissively. "Why is that a surprise? Didn't we always think they were after us?"

"Fulcrum is not messing around, Chuck," Sarah said quickly. "Now they know who you are. If they capture you…"

"Come on, Sarah," Chuck interrupted. "I may not be a spy but do you really think that I don't know what would happen if Fulcrum captured me? After all, you've shouted it in my face enough times in the past two years. I'd be tortured and when they finally killed me it would be a relief. What's new about that? Now what is really bothering you?"

"Okay, Chuck," Sarah sighed. "Yes, I'm freaked out a little. I'll admit that. I'll tell you what I'm thinking. But promise that you'll let me finish before you react. Nothing is decided."

Taking his lack of protest as agreement, Sarah took a deep breath and pushed on. "I think we should talk to the Ring," she said. "I know that would really be distasteful. But you have value to them. They need you. That would give us a lot of leverage to negotiate a good deal. We could demand that they allow us to live in peace, stop messing with our friends, and raise our family comfortably."

"Why would they do any of that?" Chuck asked. "They know that once we're in custody, I'd do anything to protect you. They wouldn't need to make a deal."

"They would certainly use that leverage if they had to," Sarah admitted. "There is no question about that. And that would help them a lot. But when you're forcing someone to do something, you always have to be questioning their motives. As long as it's reasonable, it would be much easier for them to simply give you what you want and be assured that you're willingly working for them. It would make you ten times more valuable to them."

"I don't want to do this," Chuck said. "Sarah, I can't believe that you're asking me to become the tool of these guys. I'm not like that. I can't do things that I know are wrong and justify it by telling myself that I'm just following orders. I'm not like Casey and…" His voice trailed off awkwardly.

"Go ahead, Chuck," Sarah said softly. "You can say it. You're not like me. And the truth is, you're right. You're not like me. You're better than I am." She took a long moment to gather her composure. "Look, sweetie, I know that this isn't the ideal situation. I'm not wild about the idea either. I'm just trying to figure out a way for us to be together and raise our family. If we have to make some sacrifices to do that, I guess I'm willing to."

Chuck turned his head so that she couldn't see the tears filling his eyes. He tried to keep his voice from breaking. He just couldn't do it. "I understand exactly what you mean when you say sacrifices," he finally said sadly. "We both know what it's going to take to make a deal. Why don't you stop dancing around and just admit it? You're going to give Daniel Shaw what he wants. Do you really expect me to accept that much of a sacrifice?"

Sarah just looked at him for a long moment as her own previous fears came crashing down around her. That's exactly what he was afraid of as well. He was afraid of what Agent Walker would do. "I guess I had that coming," she finally said sadly. "After all, I'm the CIA trained whore who uses sex as an offensive weapon. That's still how you see me, right?" Then she lost her battle for composure. "How am I ever going to be able to prove to you that I'm no longer that person?" she asked as she tried to wipe away the tears. "What's it going to take? Yes, two years ago in this situation Agent Walker would almost assuredly have decided that the sacrifice was worth it. She would have made some excuse to get away, snuck behind your back for a night or two, quietly gave him whatever it took to make the deal, and simply never told you about it. You're probably right about that. But I'm no longer Agent Walker. My name is now Sarah Bartowski. I'm married to my soul mate who I absolutely worship. I took a vow that included 'forsaking all others.' If any of this talk is going to make you question that, even for a single second, let's drop it. It's not worth that."

Chuck put his arm around her and she snuggled into his neck. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "That was a pretty horrible thing to say. But I've never thought of you as a whore. You're just wrong about that. My only excuse is that I've been with Agent Walker for two years and with Sarah Bartowski for less than a week. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Sarah said. "I keep racking my brain trying to figure out some way to express how strongly I feel about you. You clearly still don't get it. I guess I'll just have to keep trying. But please just tell me that you trust that I would never betray you with another man. For now I'll settle for that."

"You're wrong again," Chuck said softly. "I get how you feel. I know it exactly because I feel the same exact way for you. It's just that I could see you doing almost anything to protect me. That's something that I don't want you to do."

"And this time it's you that's wrong," Sarah said softly. "Yes, there was a long time in our relationship when I was consumed with how to protect you. I guess I still am. But I was being short sighted. All I worried about was protecting you physically. It was Ellie that finally got me to realize that protecting you also had to mean emotionally. Chuck, me giving in to Daniel Shaw would kill you. How is that protecting you? I could never do that."

"Thank you," Chuck said. "For the record, I do believe you. But how are we ever going to be able to negotiate with Shaw? He's never…"

"Chuck, we can't make a deal with that lowlife," Sarah quickly interrupted. "I was never thinking that. For one thing, we couldn't trust him. If a deal is possible, we're going to have to go over his head."

Chuck's head perked up. "The Vice President?" he asked. "Why do you think we can trust him?"

"I'm not sure that we can," Sarah said. "Chuck, I'm not asking for any commitment from you right now. I would never ask you to compromise who you are. But wouldn't it be smart to at least hear what they would offer us? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. We've already ruled out hiding. The only other option is a desperate fight that the odds are we won't win."

"I guess making a deal means that we have to let Shaw live," Chuck sighed.

"I'm afraid so," Sarah said with a small laugh at the disappointment in his voice. "Nothing is decided yet."

"Let's see what Dad thinks about it."

x-x-x-x-x

Of course, Devon and Ellie had flown together many times. But first class was a new and wonderful experience. It's not that they couldn't afford to occasionally fly first class. They both made excellent salaries. It's just that Ellie had grown accustomed to being very careful with money, out of pure necessity. They never had all that much and every dollar had to count. And she could never justify to herself spending all that extra on a silly luxury when the coach seats went to the same exact place. Fortunately for Devon, it was Dad who booked these seats.

"So," Devon said as he took a sip of his complimentary preflight cocktail. "This is what it's like to be a spy. I think I could probably get used to this."

Ellie thought back to her previous spy experience and her amazing two weeks lying on the pure white beaches in Cancun sipping fruity rum drinks. "It can be glamorous," she admitted. "Until you get caught in the back room of a bar in the middle of the desert with a drug lord, then it can turn ugly pretty fast."

Devon smiled… but he also quickly changed the subject. "Your dad could have made a fortune as a forger," he said. "These passports and driver's licenses are amazingly good."

"Who knows?" Ellie replied with a sigh. "Maybe he did make a fortune as a forger. I know next to nothing about what he was doing for the past twenty years." Then she turned towards Devon with something of a grin. "You're in an awfully good mood," she said. "Care to tell me why?"

"That's easy," Devon said. "I'm on an exciting mission with my best girl. Besides, I'm exhausted from last night's… umm… activities. I'm thinking that since we have an eight hour flight, you might let me rest."

Ellie's eyes sparkled. "I'm not too sure about that," she said. "Haven't you ever heard of the mile high club?"

"Oh lord," Devon sighed in fake annoyance. Then his eyes got something of their own sparkle. "And I also get to meet the famous Cole."

That got Ellie to show her own fake annoyance. "Devon," she pleaded with an exaggerated pout. "Please tell me that I don't have to worry about you with Cole. He didn't do anything but act like a perfect gentleman. You promised me."

"And I meant it," Devon said soothingly. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not jealous of Cole. We've been all through that. I just want to meet him."

Ellie was eager to change the subject. "It was quite the morning," she said.

"I know," Devon said. "One minute we're in bed. Then Sarah knocks on our door and tells us that Dad wants to see us. An hour later we're on our way to the airport."

"I'm surprised that Dad would send us to England by ourselves," Ellie said. "He's usually so protective."

"He didn't send you by yourselves. And why wouldn't he be protective? You're his little girl."

Ellie and Devon were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't notice the woman that had just taken the aisle seat directly across from Ellie. "Mom?" Ellie asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"You should have seen his face when he held you for the first time," Mary said with a soft smile. "Eleanor, he was so proud. Besides, isn't it fairly obvious why I'm here? I'm coming with you for protection. This assignment is far more dangerous than it might seem."

"Dangerous?" Ellie asked. "We're just supposed to find Cole, tell him the situation, and wait for Chuck and Sarah. How can that be dangerous?"

"In our current situation everything is dangerous," Mary replied. "Cole has enemies, Eleanor. Lots of them. And so do you."

"Why did Dad pick us?" Ellie asked.

"It's his new plan," Mary said with a smile. "He calls it his rope-a-dope. Apparently it's a boxing strategy. Stand in plain sight and tire your opponents out trying to catch you… but don't be there when they show up. Your dad was always fascinated by boxing. I could never figure out why. But let's put that aside for a while." Then she leaned forward to look past her. "You must be Devon," she said. "I'm Mary, Eleanor's mother."

Devon smiled and reached out to grab the hand that she offered. "It's nice to finally meet you," he said.

"Maybe," Mary said as she stood up. "Trade seats with me, Eleanor. We have an eight hour flight. Maybe Devon and I should spend some time getting to know each other a little better. And besides…"

"There will be no joining the mile high club on this flight."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were in the specified abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town waiting for the Vice President to show up. Sarah had actually met the man a couple of times before. Fred White was a senator when she was on Secret Service duty. And even though it might have been outside official protocol, no male senator ever came to the White House for a meeting without stopping to introduce themselves to the smoking hot blonde newbie. Not that he would remember her. She was just one of the many hotties wearing blue in the city that were forced to smile at him and call him sir. That first year assignment was actually young Agent Walker's introduction to how powerful men thought about life and how they felt entitled to pretty much everything… including pretty Secret Service agents.

Sarah had been more than a little surprised that Dad agreed to let her call Vice President White so easily. She had been expecting to have to work a bit to talk him into the idea of making a deal. But he actually seemed to be semi-expecting it. He did have a smirk on his face that Sarah had never seen before.

And actually White had been quite pleasant on the phone. He told her that he was hoping she would call. He even pretended to remember her, although it was more likely that he just looked up her file. For her part, Sarah made every effort to be respectful. She addressed him as sir and carefully explained that they weren't trying to be disloyal. She told him the tale of their dealings with Daniel Shaw and why they didn't trust him. She tentatively offered their services as long as they could raise their family in peace.

White agreed completely. He was very reassuring. He promised that they wouldn't have to deal with Agent Shaw. Even he agreed that the man was somewhat less than enjoyable to be around. He also completely agreed that it was in everybody's best interests to make a deal. All White asked for was proof that Sarah could actually deliver the Intersect and to hear from his lips that he was willing to follow reasonable orders. He offered to meet, work out the specifics face to face, and shake hands. After all, that's all it took for honorable people to make a deal, right?

That's why they were standing inside the dimly lit warehouse. The agreement was that Sarah would call him once they were there, and then White would come and meet with them. His wanting a secluded spot made some sense. Clearly, the Vice President of the United States couldn't be seen wandering around out in public places.

Fred White was clearly waiting for her call. So he answered it on the first ring. "You're in position?" he asked. "Good. Agent Walker, I want you to listen very closely to me. You were very smart to contact me. And under normal circumstances, the deal that you proposed would have been the best for everybody. But I'm afraid that I have some bad news. Sometimes when you're in charge you have to make hard decisions, do some distasteful things, things that you don't really want to do. I'm afraid that this is one of those times. I honestly bear you no ill will. I actually somewhat admire you. But the fact of the matter is that I need the Intersect under control. Almost as important, I need Daniel Shaw on the very top of his game right now. The man is positively obsessing over you. So much so that it's affecting his work. You should actually take it as a compliment of sorts. So I'm afraid that I'm going to have to give him what he wants. And that means you. I understand that's going to be uncomfortable for you and your husband. I'm truly sorry about that. Perhaps I can even make it up to you someday. My honest advice is just to relax and give him whatever he asks for. Trust me, if you don't fight him he'll eventually get bored and move on."

Chuck could hear the entire conversation. But he didn't need to hear to know what was happening. He could tell by the disappointment on her face. "Double cross?" he asked with a grin.

"I'm afraid so," Sarah answered with a sigh. When she put the phone in her pocket and looked up, agents were pouring through the open doors in every direction. They were quickly surrounded.

"You were right."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was crouched in his hidden position outside the warehouse. He could clearly see the mass of agents preparing to enter the building. It was far more than simply a bodyguard detail. There was another group that was guarding the drive. There were several vehicles. Clearly, their assignment was to use overwhelming force to capture Chuck and Sarah alive and deliver them to Shaw's location. "I make twenty of them in position to go inside," he said into his watch. "That leaves ten left out here. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Carina's voice crackled into his ear. "How about you, kid?"

"I'm ready," Misty said. "I just realized something. I've really never shot an actual person before."

"Don't let it bother you," Carina said. "It's natural to be nervous on your first shooting mission. Try not to think about it that way. Just think of them as targets."

"I'm not nervous," Misty said with a sigh. "It doesn't bother me. I didn't mean it like that. Those bastards have it coming."

Casey smiled in spite of the situation. He couldn't imagine bringing an untrained civilian on such a critical mission… until now. "There's my girl," he said under his breath. Then he pulled the breaker on the fuse box putting the entire area in total darkness. "It's show time."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck stepped forward and put his arm around Sarah's waist and was fumbling with her skirt. In spite of the ridiculousness of the situation, she actually grinned. He could pick the damnest times to get affectionate. "Umm," she said cautiously. "I hate to spoil your good time trying to feel me up, but we sort of have some things to deal with."

But to her surprise, he just reached into her pocket and grabbed the phone. Then he grinned at his surprised wife and dialed it once again. "I know," he said in typical Chuck fashion. "I'll get back to feeling you up in a minute. There is just one more thing that I have to do first."

Chuck could tell that White was just as surprised by receiving the call as Sarah was that he was sending it. But he didn't really give either of them any chance to react. This wasn't going to be a conversation. "Did you really think that we wouldn't plan for the possibility of you being a scumbag?" Chuck growled into the phone. "You're obviously just as stupid as the rest of your evil crew. The good news is now I'll never have to worry about taking orders from a lowlife such as yourself. You clearly don't have even a small clue who you're dealing here with since you only sent thirty agents to capture us. So let me break this down for you. If you ever touch one hair on Sarah's head, I'm going to do to you what I just did to your men. Then I'm not going to kill you right away. I'm going to offer you to my lovely wife as a present and she'll have a good time making you wish you were dead. In fact you'll eventually be begging her to kill you. I love giving Sarah presents. She has this unique way of saying 'thank you' that… well, I always look forward to. Speaking of my amazing wife, her favorite fighting technique is to kick her opponent in the groin… over and over. My honest advice is just to relax and give her what she wants. Trust me, if you don't fight her she'll eventually get bored and move on."

As soon as she saw that Chuck had ended the call, Casey's voice came booming in her earpiece. "Enough monkey business," he said. "We have ten down out here. I assume everything went according to plan in there?"

"Are you kidding?" Sarah responded as she looked around at the total carnage that the Intersect had just wrought. There were bodies laying every single place that she looked. There were a few groans but most appeared to be out cold. "He is truly amazing, Casey. You should have seen it. In the dark, it wasn't even fair. They couldn't even tell what direction the blows were coming from. There could have been fifty of them and it wouldn't have mattered a single bit. I only got to throw a couple of kicks myself. Chuck's not even breaking a sweat. I'll have to personally rectify that as soon as we get back home."

"Seriously?" Casey groaned. "Did you have to ruin a perfect mission with that disgusting bit of too-much-information?"

Sarah still had her night vision goggles on, so she could see Chuck standing there grinning. "What?" she asked.

"These night vision goggles are really amazing," he said. "I'm keeping them for later tonight. Do you realize how sexy you look in green? One extra button and I bet I could look all the way down your shirt." Then he stepped forward and reached over to her. "Yup," he said. "I was right."

Sarah couldn't keep in the laugh as she stood there watching him playfully working on the remaining buttons of her blouse. "Okay," she said as soon as she could get the words out. "Are you really going to do this in here… in front of all these men?"

Chuck seemed to consider that, for a moment. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "They don't appear to be paying attention," he said. "Morons don't have a clue what they're missing."

Sarah fought to keep in the laugh as she put her hands on her hips in mock disgust. "Okay," she sighed. "Yes, he double crossed us. Are you happy? You won our bet. Congratulations. Have your fun rubbing it in."

"Just a small preview of my winnings," Chuck said with a grin as he continued… umm… testing the night vision goggle's capabilities. "We'll save the actual rubbing for later. This is sort of like a nerd's heaven. Using advanced technology to help see the most beautiful woman in the world getting naked. If I could come up with a way to add a ham sandwich, I think this might just be the perfect situation."

"What was the bet?" Misty's voice came over their earpieces.

"It's sort of hard to explain delicately," Chuck said. "But I'd stay away from the lake tonight unless you'd like a real good view of Sarah's imitation of a… Well, let's put it this way. My plan is to give that dock something that it's never seen before."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Misty replied with a laugh. "You might be a day too late on that one."

"Can we wrap this up?" Casey's booming voice interrupted in a clear attempt to change the subject. "These guys are eventually going to wake up."

Sarah grinned at her husband. "What's up with you tonight?" she asked as she reluctantly buttoned her blouse back up. "You're positively gloating."

Chuck stepped over the body of one of the fallen agents and kissed the top of her head. "I'm in a good mood," he said. "And it only has a little to do with the prospect of your scheduled performance later by the lake… or your promise to get me sweaty."

"Killing Daniel Shaw is now back on the table."

x-x-x-x-x


	32. Gandalf the White

_I was talking to my new friend MaloMoriQuamFoedari (try saying that five times fast) the other day. By the way, if you're not reading her new story, Chuck vs The White Flag, you should really give it a try. Anyway, we sort of got to talking about literature… and that sort of digressed into geek literature… and that sort of digressed into, well, you'll see. _

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Gandalf the White**

x-x-x-x-x

_The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war. – M. Collins Casey_

x-x-x-x-x

Fred White had actually never been inside of Shaw's facility before. After all, it was important that they kept their association secret. And naturally the Vice President of the United States was a very famous person. His face was one of the most instantly recognizable in the whole world. Why give anybody any cause to start asking questions… and possibly put two and two together? But that was the surest sign of how desperate the situation now was. They had been defeated again. That was bad enough. But how apparently effortlessly it was happening had them more than spooked.

Shaw was not so gently questioning the leader of the team that had been sent to apprehend Walker and Bartowski. "How could this possibly be?" he demanded angrily. "There were twenty of you - big, strong, trained men. How could one man and one woman possibly so easily subdue that large of a force, even in the dark? Are you sure there weren't others in there?"

"Yes, sir," the man numbly replied. "If there were others in that room, they were invisible. When we went in, there was a man and a woman standing alone in the middle of that huge warehouse. The woman wasn't even dressed to fight. She was wearing a skirt. We quickly moved in to surround them as we planned. When we got there, the lights went out… and that's all anyone remembers."

"This is a nightmare," Shaw muttered. "They are absolute ghosts. Casey and Walker are good but how can two agents and pansy ass Bartowski be kicking our ass so thoroughly and be so far ahead of us? It's like they can read our minds."

White turned to Shaw. "This is more than a nightmare," he said. "This is getting downright serious. The President leaves for London in two days. I don't have to tell you that nothing can interfere with that. After all, who knows when we'll get another chance at this? We need to keep the pressure on them, capture them if we can, but keep them busy at all costs. Once we're in charge, they won't be able to evade us for long."

"Then I'll have her," Shaw sighed as the slight smile became evident.

"I hope that you realize how much I just gave up for you," White said softly. "She was ready to make a deal with me. Daniel, I need you on the very top of your game right now. If things work out as we plan, you'll get your fun. But for right now I need your very best effort. This can still go south. I need your mind on your work."

As if on cue, Shaw's phone rang. "Yes," he answered briskly as he punched the speakerphone button.

"Hey Danny," came the chipper voice booming through the phone. "How's it going? This is Sarah Bartowski."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie looked at poor Devon slumped in the back seat of the tiny rental car. "Sweetie," she said. "I'm so sorry that my mom put you through the ringer like that."

Devon didn't look up. "I know," he said numbly. "I feel like I just gave birth… to Darth Vader. What was her deal anyway?"

"I don't know," Ellie sighed. "I'm not sure what she thought she was doing."

"Where is she now?" Devon asked without opening his eyes. "Inside pulling the wings off of some poor flies?"

"No, Devon," Mary said sarcastically through the open car window. "I very rarely pull the wings off flies anymore. It's one of those things in life that sounds like more fun than it actually is. You really can't hear their tiny cries of anguish anyway. It seems fairly pointless, doesn't it? At one time I was into a throwing-cats-off-roofs-to-see-if-they-can-land-on-their-feet phase. But for now, I mostly limit my torture to prospective future son-in-law candidates."

The red was clearly already well into Devon's face. "Mom," Ellie exclaimed in surprise. She was clearly eager to change the subject and spare Devon any further embarrassment. "Where were you?"

"I was getting us some weapons," Mary responded as she kept her somewhat less than pleasant stare directed at poor Devon. "How can I protect you without a weapon? You can't carry a gun on a commercial flight, Eleanor. They take a dim view of that ever since 9/11. Perhaps if you two ever got out of bed and read a newspaper once in a while, you'd have heard about it."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah absolutely didn't want to call Shaw on the phone. She wasn't really in the mood to pretend to be civil to these scumbags. That was something of an understatement. It wasn't even that they were evil. Sarah had been around plenty of not so nice guys before. She had even worked with a couple. Being nice was not a prerequisite for working with the CIA. If you had the right information or the right skills, they were more than willing to overlook character flaws that would be a show stopper for most organizations.

And it wasn't even so much that this Shaw moron was so clearly obsessing with the thought of getting her in bed, not really. Sarah had also been around more than her fair share of those guys before. Okay, so Shaw was a tad less subtle than the typical jerk with designs of separating her from her panties. And yes, his methods were pretty creepy. But his base intentions were basically similar. Under the right circumstances Sarah could have forced herself to overlook that, especially since there was no way it was ever going to willingly happen. Even before she met Chuck, Daniel Shaw was not her type. But these bastards were different. They wanted to hurt her amazing husband, the great love of her life. And in her book, that was a crime that was pretty much unforgivable. It was a crime that carried the death penalty.

But Dad asked her to make the call. It was important to his plan. And there wasn't much she wouldn't do for Dad. Besides, if his plan worked, she and Chuck would finally be free. And there was also the added side benefit of potentially getting to use their heads for a little fun target practice… at very close range.

Both Daniel Shaw and Fred White instantly sat up in their chairs at the sound of Sarah's voice. "Hello, Sarah," Shaw said rather cautiously. "What can I do for you?"

"Probably nothing, I'm afraid," Sarah said with a sigh. "I suppose that taking out your gun, shooting your boss, and then turning it onto yourself would be a bit much to ask."

If Shaw was surprised at the call, he quickly recovered. "Why don't we meet in person," he said with as much calm smile in his voice as his agent training provided. "After all, you still owe me a date. We can perhaps have a drink and discuss the matter in more detail. I'm sure that if you really put your mind to it, you could talk me into almost anything. Do you still have that red negligee that you offered to show me?"

Well if it wasn't already, that certainly got Sarah's blood boiling. The very, very last thing she was going to tolerate was Daniel Fucking Shaw overtly flirting with her – especially with Chuck standing there listening to it. Oh, she knew damn well that he was just trying to rattle her. Fortunately, slapping down unwelcome come-ons was something of an expertise of hers. "I think that I just threw up in my mouth a little," she said. "Don't flatter yourself. It's never, ever, ever going to happen."

But if there was one thing about Shaw, he didn't discourage easily. "We'll see," he said calmly with a smirk evident in his voice. "This isn't close to being over. So, Sarah, are you going to tell us why you called?"

"To tell you that war has been declared," Sarah growled.

"War?" Shaw repeated derisively. "Are you telling me that you haven't been at war? If it isn't war, I'd hate to hear what you call it."

"We've been going easy on you," Sarah stated. "We've only killed when we had no other choice. That ends as of now. If you send any more men against us, you're signing their death warrant."

"Pretty bold words for the leader of an army of three," Shaw said with something of his own growl. "I look forward to ramming them down your throat… among other things. Let's face it, Sarah. It's only a matter of time. Don't let your recent minor successes lull you into a false sense of security. I'm still holding all the cards. Very soon it's you that is going to be coming to me asking for favors… and the privilege of earning them by entertaining me."

In spite of the situation, that got a laugh from her. "Oh, Danny boy," Sarah said sarcastically. "Your fantasies are actually pretty entertaining… in a sick disgusting sort of way. It's sort of like listening to Howard Stern. Tell me, Agent Shaw. What color is the sky in your world?"

As soon as Sarah ended the call, a man came running into the office. "I have good news, sir," he said. "We've finally figured out how they were diverting our diagnostic structure, keeping us from acquiring their triangulation coordinates."

"Okay," Shaw said. "I only have one question. What does that mean in English?"

"We were able to trace the call," the man said with a smile. "We know where she is. She's in a remote farm house about thirty miles from here."

Fred White jumped to his feet. "Make sure we don't lose them this time," he said as he walked out of the room.

"Send one hundred men," Shaw said quickly. "Make sure they have night vision and tranq guns. I want air support surrounding that house. Tranq anybody they encounter on sight. I want them alive. Don't screw this up."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't just stand there," Shaw shouted.

"Move."

Sarah just stood for a long moment with the phone clutched to her chest as they watched Shaw and his gang of evil fools burst into action on the monitor. That was the real reason she hadn't wanted to call him. She didn't want to subject Chuck to any more of his gloating smarmy innuendo. Fortunately, when she actually worked up the nerve to look at him, his smile was warm and genuine.

"Oh yeah," he said in classic Chuck style.

"Killing him is definitely back on the table."

x-x-x-x-x

Orion was able to patch into the video feed of one of the choppers that was providing air support for Shaw's operation. So they could clearly see the scores of agents getting into position to storm the farm house from all angles.

"Shouldn't we be getting the hell out of here?" Misty asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid not," Steven said with a smile. "There would be no way for anybody to escape the house. It is totally surrounded. They are not screwing around this time. They have a hundred men. They came totally prepared. They have night vision and enough air support to invade a small country. They are going to tranq anybody they see and ask questions later. There is no way to keep them out of that house."

Misty looked around anxiously. "So what are we going to do?" she asked.

"We're going to watch," Steven said. Then he smiled and reached out his hand to her. "I'm sorry, Misty," he said soothingly. "I'm just having a bit of fun with you. They are not anyplace close to us. The house they are getting ready to attack is actually about fifty miles away from here. It's empty, except for some high explosives. They are walking into a trap."

Sarah looked at Steven in awe for a long moment. "Oh my God," she said softly. "You're Gandalf."

Steven just smiled at her. "Excuse me," he said.

"Gandalf the White," Sarah repeated. "You're doing the same thing to Shaw that Gandalf did to Sauron. You're keeping him occupied fighting false wars and his attention diverted when the real threat is right under his nose."

Steven's smile grew. "That would be a good way of saying it, Sarah," he said. "You're right. If they spent their energy keeping us away from the President, we would have no chance. Instead, they are running around the country looking like fools trying to catch us. Don't tell Mary that it came from Middle Earth. She thinks that it's a boxing strategy. She already thinks I'm enough of a geek as it is. Boxing sounds much more macho, doesn't it? She'll deny it of course, but it sort of turns her on."

"I could see that," Misty said with a smile. "Of course she would deny it. You have to use all of your weapons… in love… and war."

Chuck's mouth was still hanging open at his wife, so he missed the comments about his mom. "Did you just make a Lord of the Rings reference?" he asked in shock. "I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do right now."

"What?" Sarah responded. "Isn't it obvious?"

"That would make Chuck, Frodo," Misty said with her own grin.

"Oh my God," Chuck exclaimed as he continued to look at Sarah. "That would make you Sam. I can't believe I've never thought of that before. How ironic is that?"

Misty's eyes narrowed. "Why is that ironic?"

Chuck hesitated for a moment, until he saw Sarah smile and nod. "Because Sam is Sarah's real name," he finally said. "And he was the biggest hero in the story."

"What?" Sarah protested. "Frodo carried the ring. He destroyed it."

"And Sam made sure that he got there," Chuck whispered as he reached over and kissed her. "He stood beside him every step of the way. He fought all the bad guys and giant spiders and orcs and made sure that Frodo had a chance. Frodo got all of the glory but he never would have had a prayer except for his Sam, just like I wouldn't have a prayer without mine."

"So tell me," Casey said in disgust. "Did this Frodo and Sam ever have sex a million times? Because I think that's where the analogy breaks down."

That got them all laughing. Until they watched the screen in silence as the house, filled with Ring agents, exploded in a fiery ball.

Finally, Misty looked around with a sigh. "Really?" she asked.

"You don't look like a Sam."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were sitting in the dining room. The team had gone their separate ways since watching the disastrous Ring attack on the booby trapped house. The original plan was to wait until midnight, head down to the lake and… well, allow Chuck to collect his substantial winnings. Unfortunately, the line of summertime thunderstorms that was currently moving thought the area made the idea of being naked in a lake somewhat less than attractive, even given the ideal combination of night vision goggles and Sarah being the other umm… participant.

Besides that, Chuck could clearly tell that Sarah was depressed. In spite of their very substantial dual victories tonight, the odds against them were still daunting. So the first order of business had to be to fix that. He stepped up to where she was sitting at the table with her head in her hands, her once steaming cup of coffee all but forgotten. "Don't worry," he said playfully as he rubbed her back. "It can't storm forever. And even if it does, we'll find someplace to get you naked. Night vision goggles work anywhere."

That didn't exactly get the grin he was looking for. But for the moment the pained smile would have to do. "Come on," he said as he continued to rub. "I'm glad that they took negotiating off the table. Now we can kick their asses properly."

"I'm not taking anything away from you," Sarah finally said with a sigh. "Or Dad. You were unbelievable in that warehouse. I've never seen anything like it. And Dad is beyond brilliant. He's always three steps ahead of them. But our situation is still desperate. Let's face it. We had advantages tonight that we're not always going to have."

"Like what?" Chuck questioned. "You and I took care of thirty of them tonight without really breathing hard. Dad probably killed eighty of them in that house. All told, they must have lost ninety men tonight. That has to have them thinking."

"We controlled the agenda tonight," Sarah said. "We pretty much knew what we were going to face. We made sure we had the advantage of sight while they were blind. That's probably not going to be true next time. And yes, the intersect means you could handle yourself against a lot of enemies, but they were handicapped. They couldn't shoot you. Fulcrum won't be all that hesitant. And Chuck, the intersect isn't going to help you much when they're shooting bullets at your head. I understand that they lost ninety men. But they can afford that. Once they're in charge, their resources will be limitless. And Chuck, we need to face this unpleasant fact head on. You heard him, sweetie. If we fight and lose, if Daniel Shaw captures us, we can expect zero mercy from him. We'd be lucky to even get to see each other much after that. In fact the only way it would happen at all would be if he allowed it. And we've taunted him, made him look foolish. His price would be whatever his twisted mind could think up. We'd pretty much have to pay it, and we both know what that would include… at this point probably right in front of you."

Chuck continued to rub her back silently for a long moment. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way." he finally said. "We both know that you're the badass of the family. You always have been and you always will be. I understand that my trying to get all macho here would be a huge turnoff for you. But I'm not going to ever let that happen. What we have is nothing short of magical. I've waited my whole life for this, for you. I didn't even think it was possible to feel this way. So I'm not going to let them take this away from us, Sarah. I won't. You can count on me. I promise."

That didn't exactly get the smile he had been looking for. "It would help me feel a lot better about the situation if you would tell me exactly how you're planning on doing that," she said.

"No kidding," Chuck said sarcastically with a laugh. "I'm afraid I can't do that just yet. But that doesn't mean that I have any doubt. I don't. I guess I'm asking you for some faith."

"Chuck," Sarah said softly. "I do have faith in you. I'm sorry if I'm giving you any other impression. You're right. I need to start acting like it. But you are also wrong about some things."

That caused Chuck to pause his back rub for a moment. "What am I wrong about?" he asked.

Sarah stood up and faced him. The twinkle in her eyes lit up the otherwise mostly dark room. "You said that your acting all macho would be a huge turnoff," she said with a grin. "Umm, you're kinda wrong about that. Didn't you hear Dad earlier? In fact, it's having something of the opposite effect. I guess that, unlike Mom, I'm just willing to admit it."

That definitely got the smile she was looking for. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything," he said. "But lately you're kind of hard to turn off."

Sarah's smile turned decidedly sinister as she ignored his barb. "You know," she said as she gently touched her lips to his. "I'm pretty sure that a real macho guy would drag his helpless blonde into the bedroom, slowly make her remove her clothes for his amusement, and completely ravage her over and over again until she was totally spent."

"You do realize what you're saying?" Chuck asked as he got serious. "Are you sure about this? That sounds like it might get… intense."

Sarah bit her lip slyly and looked at the floor in an exaggerated show of fake submission. "Yes, sir," she said with a fake sigh. "I'm very sure. You've got me over a barrel. Besides, you did win our bet. I guess that I have no choice but to pay off. I'll do anything you ask tonight as long as you don't tell my husband."

"Okay, Agent Walker," Chuck said. "Let's see you prove that. Why don't you take off your shirt for me… slowly?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah said as she began to slowly work the buttons of her blouse.

When Sarah got to the third button, Chuck grabbed her hand. "I'll tell you what," he said as he led her towards the bedroom. "The light isn't very good out here. I want to see everything. Maybe we should move this someplace more private and see how far you're really willing to go. I think you're all talk. Maybe we can actually find a barrel to put you over. That sounds kinda fun."

"Yes, sir," Sarah said shyly. "Anything you say."

As soon as Chuck and Sarah closed the door to their bedroom, Casey and Misty came out of their hiding place crouched in the kitchen. "Thank God," Casey sighed. "I thought they would never leave."

"That was close," Misty admitted as she tried to stop giggling. "I can't believe they didn't see our clothes laying there. For a minute I thought they were going to go for it themselves. We would have been in here all night."

"Can we please not do this again out here?" Casey pleaded. "If Chuck and Sarah ever catch us naked, we'll never, ever hear the last of it. Maybe we can stick to the bedroom."

"Oh come on," Misty scolded playfully. "You're a spy. Where's your sense of adventure? Besides, tell me that you haven't been in a similar situation with…"

"Can you please stop with the comparisons with Carina?" Casey interrupted with a sigh. "Please? I'm sorry that I told you about it. You are two different people. You're not competing with her. What's it going to take for me to prove that to you?"

Now it was Misty's smile that turned sinister. "It sounds like I have you somewhat over a barrel, doesn't it? Perhaps we can go upstairs and I can find a task or two for you to… prove it."

"Yes, ma'am."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah could hardly get the door closed before they were laughing so hard they fell into each other to keep from falling to the floor. "That's the most fun I've ever had," Sarah finally said, wiping the tears from her eyes as soon as she could stop laughing. "How long were you going to make them hide in there? You were perfect with the faith speech. By the way, I do have faith in you."

"Me?" Chuck asked incredulously. "You're the one who was pretending to drink her coffee for a half hour. Then trying to creep them out with all that ravage talk. For the record, I don't question your faith. Speaking of which, I have faith that's the last time Misty gets him naked in the Dining Room."

"For the record, I wasn't trying to creep them out," Sarah protested. "Maybe I was trying to inspire you."

"Ravage?" Chuck asked with a laugh. "Seriously? You're really expecting me to pull off ravage? I've never ravaged before."

"Well, it might not hurt to try," Sarah pointed out with a grin. "After all, you just single handedly kicked the ass of twenty trained agents. What am I going to do? I'm outmanned. Besides, I wasn't kidding about the bet. I'd really have no choice but to do anything that you demanded. Come on, Chuck. Try me."

"Okay, Agent Walker," Chuck finally said with his own huge grin. "I'll call your bluff. Maybe you should keep going here in the light. We'll save the goggles for another time."

The room wasn't dark. But Sarah's eyes lit it up even more brightly as she reached for the remaining button on her shirt.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Anything you say."

x-x-x-x-x


	33. The Mother In Law

_Thanks to my friend MaloMoriQuamFoedari for the technical help on the seedy parts of London (although she insists that I point out that none of it is from personal experience) for this chapter. By the way, if you're not reading her new story, Chuck vs The White Flag, you should really give it a try. It's really starting to heat up. Anyway, as it turns out, London's seedy part is not all that different than Detroit's, of which I'm already pretty familiar (again, not from any personal experience) all on my own._

_As long as I'm in the shameless plug mode, the next chapter of Lucky47's Family Matters is the one you've been waiting for two years to read. Don't miss it._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Mother in Law**

x-x-x-x-x

_Stress doesn't form character, it reveals it. – M. Bartowski, a.k.a. Frost._

x-x-x-x-x

Devon sat impatiently in the back seat of the car while Mary drove them to the hotel. In spite of her somewhat less than warm treatment, he was getting excited. "I've always wanted to see London," he said, more to himself than anybody as he strained to look out the car window for any recognizable landmark. The problem was that everything that he saw looked just like any other big city. Sure, Heathrow was certainly a huge airport. But Devon regularly flew out of LAX, nothing special there. There was also nothing remarkable about the fairly modest, mostly residential area they were currently driving through. The streets were perhaps a little narrower than what he was used to. But other than that, once you got used to the novelty of driving on the other side of the road, it was just another big city. He could have been just as easily looking at Los Angeles just a few blocks outside of his hospital. So he turned to his future mother-in-law. "Do you think that we could maybe stop by Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard? That would be fun."

Unfortunately, Mary clearly wasn't up for any chit-chat. "We're on a mission, Devon," she said, perhaps not harshly, but certainly with no attempt towards warm and friendly. "Not a vacation."

Ellie quickly stepped into the conversation. She wasn't feeling all that comfortable herself. In her mind, she always understood that the driver sat on the other side of the car here. That's wasn't bad. It was the driving on the wrong side of the road that had her instincts somewhat spooked. But Mom was driving somewhat aggressively. She had clearly driven here before. And whatever Mom's issue with Devon was, it was plain that it wasn't going away any time soon. Until he had a chance to prove to her how wonderful he was, perhaps it would be better if she controlled the dialog. If she could keep the talk directed at her, it might ease some of the tension. "Mission?" she asked. "Mom, we're just supposed to find Cole, tell him the story about the President, and make sure he's willing to help. You're making it sound like some cloak and dagger thing."

"You have to start taking this seriously, Eleanor," Mary chided as she pulled the car into the hotel parking lot. "Agent Barker is in the middle of a mission. He's deep undercover. One of the first rules of being a spy is that you never, ever, under any circumstances, blow another agent's cover. It would probably get him… and us killed. We're going to have to contact him as his cover personality."

"So," Ellie asked. "What should we do?"

"Not we, Eleanor" Mary said as she opened the door and got out of the car. "You're the only one of us that Agent Barker would recognize. It's going to have to be you to make contact with him. Your dad is confident that you can do this. He says that you have some experience in this particular area. That's unsettling enough. I have to tell you, Steven and I don't often disagree, but this is completely against my better judgment."

"Experience?" Ellie asked as she and Devon followed Mary's lead and got out of the car. "Mom, experience in what area?"

Mary stopped walking towards the hotel for a moment and turned briskly on her heel to face her daughter. There was no doubt that she was more than a little annoyed. "That's another thing that's bothering me," she said.

"Eleanor, just when are you going to tell your mother exactly how you acquired the nickname Slutty Ellie?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Misty were in the kitchen making breakfast. Since the guys had both experienced something of a long, physical night, the girls were allowing them to sleep in. Sarah was holding Misty to her promise to teach her how to make pancakes and eggs. Since they were both missing their best friends, it was a good thing that they had each other. It was actually amazing how close they were getting in such a short time. Misty was one of the easiest people to talk to that Sarah had ever met. In fact they were spending most of their time giggling about last night in the Dining Room.

"Damn it," Misty said as she flipped an egg. "I knew that you two were up to something. Okay, that settles it. I'm not resting until I catch you and Chuck in the act someplace."

"Good luck with that," Sarah said sarcastically as soon as she could control her own laughing. "Chuck's not exactly a sex-on-the-dining-room-table sort of guy. He gets red faced if I kiss him outside the bedroom."

"He sounds like a pretty straight arrow," Misty said with a laugh. "Well, there is nothing wrong with that." But she suddenly got serious. "Look," she said. "I know that she's your friend. I don't want to put you in an awkward spot. But what is the honest deal with Carina? Don't be afraid to tell me the truth. Is she a threat to me?"

Sarah smiled at the concern that was so plain in her face. "You're really falling, huh?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure yet," Misty lied. "Do you think that I would have a chance?"

Sarah looked at her new friend. "I'm going to be completely honest with you," she said. "If you would have asked me that question two weeks ago I would have laughed at the idea that Casey would ever allow himself to fall in love. He's really not the type. I still have a healthy skepticism. But I have to say, it doesn't sound quite so impossible now. You're the perfect woman for him. My advice is just to hang in there."

Misty nodded gratefully. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked hesitantly. "A really personal question?"

Sarah smiled at her. "You don't have to ask," she said softly. "You want to know about Chuck and me."

Misty nodded. "He just doesn't seem like your type," she said. "I hope that doesn't offend you."

"It doesn't offend me at all," Sarah said with a laugh. "That's what everybody says. I'm afraid that I can't really explain it to you, at least not in any way that you'd understand. The honest truth is that I don't totally understand it myself. Spies are taught to never let anyone truly get close to them. You build up walls, learn to protect yourself. And that's a good thing, because most everybody you meet in this business is trying to exploit you in some way, either personally to get you in bed, or professionally to give up some secret. You know, it's really ironic. Spies have this reputation for being brave… and selfless. In fact it's the opposite. Most of them are cowards, running from the fear of making themselves vulnerable to somebody. They are also pretty selfish, always looking for the quick fling, the glory assignment. I suppose that Chuck isn't a spy's type in that sense. He would be worthless to try and have a quick fling with. Chuck is completely the opposite of those pretty boy guys that everybody thinks I should be with. You know the ones."

"Like Bryce?" Misty suggested gently.

"Exactly," Sarah said. "Bryce was actually more decent than most. The others are always thinking they are so smooth that if you're not interested in jumping into their bed you must be gay. Chuck isn't like that at all. If anything, he's not aggressive enough. Even now, after we've been married for a week, it's almost always me that makes the first move."

"He's a nice guy," Misty said.

"Yes," Sarah agreed. "He is. But it's far more than that. From the first day I met him, he saw through my walls. I felt naked, like he could see right through me. It was the first time I had ever felt like that… and the funny thing is that I sort of liked it. He was like no other man I'd ever met. He kept putting himself out there for me, even when I gave him no hope. He kept coming back for more and more pain. He finally got through my walls to the point where he could have easily got me in bed, there was no way I could have possibly resisted him. I don't have to tell you what most men would have done in that situation. But Chuck never made a single move, not once. He wanted more than that. He was the first person who ever honestly loved me for me. It was pretty intimidating at first. Then I started to realize that I was fooling myself. I was head over heels in love with the sweetest guy in the world. And I was hurting him. I was being cruel to this amazing man. He was starting to get frustrated, wanting more than I could give him. I didn't know what to do, Misty. I seriously thought about leaving several times, thought that it would ultimately be best for him. I even had my bags packed once. But I realized that I couldn't do it. I was in too deep. I didn't like myself unless he was standing next to me. But still, there was my stupid training, my duty. So we were sort of stuck. I knew that he loved me. He even sort of knew that I loved him. But neither of us could admit it or do anything about it. It sucked for a long time."

"What happened to change that?' Misty asked softly.

A huge grin broke out on Sarah's face. "Ellie is what happened," she said. "She's kind of like a force of nature. She dragged me behind the woodshed, listened patiently to every one of my arguments, and one by one stood them on their head. It took her a few days but she finally made me see how foolish I was being, that denying feelings doesn't make them go away. But still our situation was pretty bleak. We weren't free to pursue anything like an open relationship. Chuck being what he is, the powers that be weren't about to just let us quit and ride off into the sunset together. In fact if they thought for a second that we actually had romantic feelings for each other, they would have separated us."

"They would have separated you?" Misty asked.

"That was my biggest fear," Sarah replied with a nod. "So I was still being very cautious admitting anything to Chuck. I was afraid that he would get excited and blow it for us. Then it finally happened. We spent one magical night in Cancun cuddling with each other and laid it all on the table. I couldn't deny it any longer. Ellie made me see that it was hurting him. So I confessed that I felt the same way that he did, only honestly far more so. We promised that we would wait as long as it took, that someday we'd be together forever. I can remember every detail of that night like it was ten minutes ago. Misty, I can still feel his hand softly rubbing circles on my stomach. I can still see the adorable puppy dog look on his face, internally debating if he could get away with going up my shirt, sometimes drifting higher, a couple of times his fingertips getting right to the very edge, but then always deciding that he needed to respect my position. I can feel how wonderful his warm excited breath felt on my neck. I've never wanted anything so badly in my whole life, not even close. I remember racking my brain desperately trying in vain to figure out some way we could make love that night without getting caught. Ever since that moment, there was no thought of turning back. That was about a month ago… and I've been floating on a cloud since."

"Oh my God, Sarah," Misty sighed. "You have got to be kidding me. That's the most romantic story I've ever heard. Oh my God."

"It was a fairly tale, Misty," Sarah sighed. "I still feel like the princess in a freaking fairly tale. And actually we'd probably still be sneaking around pretending to be platonic workmates except for Daniel Shaw and his merry band of evil fools. I'll have to thank him… just before I send him to hell and shoot away half of his head."

"I would give anything to have what you have," Misty said wistfully.

"You can have it," Sarah said. "Of course you can. If you really want it. Casey is amazing. He may not be the most outgoing or romantic person I've ever met, but he's unbelievably special. I've never told him that, it would just embarrass both of us. I don't have a big brother. But he's basically become that for me."

"What do I do?" Misty asked.

"You have the same ally that I had," Sarah quickly replied. "Use her. Casey and Ellie are very close. She can talk some sense into him for you, just like she did me."

"Do you think she would?" Misty asked. "We're not exactly friends. And there is still the matter of Carina."

"You may not be friends yet," Sarah said with a sly smile. "But you soon will be. You're too much alike to not become close. And as far as Carina, you have to understand where she's coming from. She's been trained that sex is not a big deal. It's mostly a tool to her. It's never because of love, that's for suckers. At most it's a release of tension, sort of like getting a massage. I wouldn't worry too much about her. She's not trying to take him away or anything. She wouldn't know what to do with a man who was honestly in love with her if she had him. The thought would horrify her. The flirting thing is just her way. At heart, she is a very good person."

That got a smile. "Okay," Misty said with something of an evil grin. "Thanks. That actually helps. Tell me something. You're telling me not to worry about her. Would you let her get a massage with Chuck?"

"I'd bury her body in a shallow grave," Sarah quickly said, with only the barest hint of a smile. "I've already had that talk with her."

"I'm afraid that this is one of those times when you should do as I say and not as I do."

x-x-x-x-x

Devon sat in the car despondently. He was pretty disgusted with his new roommate… and life in general when it really came down to it. He looked around at the scene playing out around him like a scene in a bad movie. It wasn't very pretty. Being the end of a classic mid-summer day, it was still oppressively hot. And that just accentuated the pungent odor that permeated the entire area. It seemed to Devon's nose half curry… and half urine. That's was probably due to the large quantity of men who clearly had no compunction about using the alley as an impromptu urinal. Even though it was not close to being dark yet, the area's main economic activity, namely sex for sale, was in full bloom. Fortunately for Devon, there was zero attraction in making a purchase. There was actually very little in life that turned his stomach more than the thought of having sex with a prostitute, and especially on this particular street. The women all looked like they were twenty-one years old from behind… and a hundred-and-one from the front. And the prospective clientele looked even worse. Some poor chap was in the alley across from them. His retching was very plain as he was just as clearly hunched over giving up his lunch. "This sucks," Devon sighed as he put his head in his hands in dismay.

Mary took her hand away from the earpiece where she was intently listening to Ellie's wire for the briefest of moments and turned towards him. "What sucks?" she asked.

"Name it," Devon said into his hands without looking. "First of all, I can't believe you would send Ellie into that pub dressed like that. You could see her… well, you could see pretty much everything that God gave her."

"It's not a pub, Devon," Mary said condescendingly. "Why does every single place in England have to be a pub? That's so American. It's just a bar. And what part of Ellie going undercover as a hooker didn't you understand? Look around. Did you expect her to wear a prom dress?"

Devon dropped his hands and finally looked at her. "Is she safe in there?" he asked anxiously. "She's not used to… this kind of scene."

"She's safe as long as she does everything exactly like we practiced," Mary said. "Just why do you think I'm so uptight? Do you really think that I'm holding this Beretta in my waistband with two extra clips in my purse because I like the feel of it against my skin? What else is bothering you?"

"I understand that we're on a mission," Devon grumbled. "I do. I also understand that it's important. I respect that. I'm not trying to be selfish or a crybaby here. But this is a once in a lifetime thing for me. Who knows when I'll ever be able to talk Ellie into coming back to England, especially once she realizes that we would have to pay for it? And here we are sitting in a cheap car with no air conditioning in the seediest red light district in London. I didn't have to ride in a plane for eight hours to see this. I could see strung-out-on-crack hookers working the streets in Los Angeles any night of the week, better looking ones even. You promised me in the hotel that you would take us to someplace historic."

For the first time, Mary actually smiled. "I kept my word," she said. "I'm nothing if not honest. This area is incredibly historic. This is Whitechapel. It's right here on these very streets where Jack the Ripper made himself infamous preying on these unfortunate hookers. In fact, two of his victims lived right around the corner from here. On the way here, we drove right through Saffron Hill. That neighborhood is also very historic. It was the setting for Dickens when he wrote Oliver Twist in 1839."

Devon simply looked blankly at her.

Mary turned her head so that he wouldn't see her smirk. "It's a book, Devon," she said softly. "It's pretty famous, although clearly not so much with the frat boys. Son, there's actually more to life than a surfboard and a keg of beer."

Devon was about done being treated like a moron. Didn't she know that he was a surgeon? "Of course I've heard of Oliver Twist," he said angrily. "English Literature may not be my first love, but I'm certainly familiar with the classics. Charles Dickens? Great Expectations? A Tale of Two Cities?"

Mary turned her smirk towards Devon. "Have you read it?" she asked pointedly. "What's it about?"

Mary knew that wasn't really being very fair. You would have to be either an English Lit major or really into Charles Dickens to have ever read Oliver Twist. Before Steven came along in her life and swept her off her feet, literature had been her great love. After all, young CIA Agents had lots of alone time. It was at the very height of the cold war. And that was before the internet. Good old low-tech Charles Dickens had gotten her though some very lonely times. The truth was she was every bit a geek about the literary classics as Steven was with his silly electronic gadgets. In fact Dickens was the inspiration for the name of her first son. Steven probably didn't even know that yet. He probably still thought that Chuck was named after his great-uncle.

Mary also knew full well that she was currently walking close to the edge of ruining her future relationship withDevon. And that would be a huge shame. After all, he was obviously an amazing man. He had it all… incredibly smart, probably the best looking man she had ever seen, had proven beyond the shadow of any doubt that he was beyond dedicated to Eleanor, and truly an all around wonderful person. Eleanor was more than lucky. Mary was frankly relieved that her daughter had found someone so fantastic to walk beside her. Both the kids had done great in that regard.

But for now, he needed to be controlled. This was a dangerous situation and he needed to fear her so that he would follow her instructions without question later in case of a crisis. There would be a time in the near future for them to bond, hopefully become friends, and welcome him into the family. She could be the mom and hopefully repair this damage later. At this point, it was far more important that he be protected. So she waited for a long moment to see if he would respond. When it was clear that he wasn't going to, she put her finger back on her earpiece and sighed.

"I didn't think so."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie actually wasn't all that nervous walking into the bar, which was surprising considering she was dressed in a way that made Misty's cocktail getup look like a church outfit by comparison. But then again, Ellie was getting fairly accustomed to showing men her boobs anyway. It hadn't been all that uncommon lately. "After all," she mused to herself with an ironic grin. "If you'll show them off to Casey, why not these guys?" At least she wasn't the most undressed woman in the place. The 'lady' who was gyrating on what settled for a stage and was currently swinging around the stripper pole took that dubious honor. She was basically naked except for the tiniest of g-strings, a bored smile, and about a thousand tattoos. But then Ellie spotted him… and all that lack of nervousness went right out the window.

He was actually pretty easy to pick out. After all, Cole Barker completely commanded any room he was in. Ellie had honestly forgotten the effect that he had on her. Oh, make no mistake. They would never be more than close friends. But she would be somewhat less than completely honest if she tried to deny her physical attraction to him. It was hard to explain, he really wasn't all that good looking, certainly not when compared to Devon. He simply had it. Whatever it was, Cole Barker had gobs of it to spare, a sexual magnetism that simply hit her between the eyes… and to be completely honest maybe even a bit lower. That plainly was the main source of her nervousness. Forget the stupid men with guns. That was child's play. Whatever happened on this assignment, Devon simply couldn't be hurt again. He couldn't be allowed to pick up on her attraction to Cole. She had more than hurt him already, she had just put the poor guy through hell… and she certainly wasn't going anywhere close to that particular ledge ever again.

Mom had told her that Dad had set this up somehow and Cole, or Colin Gentry as he was currently going by, was expecting to meet the new prospective addition to his stable. Apparently this Colin Gentry fellow was multi-talented. He was a pimp, drug dealer, and clearly generally not all that nice of a man. Mom had also warned her multiple times to not show any sign that they had ever met before, so when she asked the bartender for Colin, he quickly pointed to a table at the back of the bar. Cole was sitting with a group of men. They were laughing foolishly, acting as Ellie had come to learn the way men acted when there wasn't a woman around.

Ellie walked right up to the table. "Excuse me," she said. "My name is Trixie. I'm looking for a Colin. I have an appointment with him."

They had spent more than a few minutes of sometimes heated debate in the hotel earlier coming up with the right name. Devon suggested Chastity. But Mom scoffed at that. She wanted something more exotic, like Safire. Finally they settled on Trixie. To his credit, there was no hint of surprise in Cole's eyes. Ellie couldn't really be surprised at that. After all, the man was an undercover super spy. Showing surprise at almost anything would be the kiss of death. "I'm Colin," he finally said as surveyed Ellie's form calmly and critically, but definitely thoroughly. "I expect to be addressed as sir. Let's see the rest of the package. Turn around… slowly."

Ellie really wasn't expecting that. But what else was there to do? "Yes, sir," she said as she turned.

"You'll do," Cole finally said. "Meet my associate Paul."

Since there were seven men gathered around that table and Paul was the only one who Cole introduced, Ellie assumed he was important, probably the mark. So Ellie fought the strong urge to cover her mostly exposed chest with her arms and flashed her sexiest smile at him. "Hi, Paul," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

If Cole checked out Ellie's… assets calmly, Paul was anything but. He looked at her like a starving man would look at a sizzling t-bone steak. "Well, Colin," he said while not once moving his eyes from Ellie's chest. "You said that you were going to bring in some classier talent. I have to say, she's amazing." Then he finally reluctantly tore his eyes from her chest to look somewhat into her eyes. "If you and Colin can come to an agreement, what do you say we go out tonight? I could be your first new client."

"Sorry, Paul," Cole said with a smirk. "This one is going to be busy tonight." Then he stood and extended his hand. "What do you say, Trixie? Are you ready for your job interview?"

Ellie had to fight to keep the blush out of her face. So she smiled at Cole and took his offered hand. "Yes, sir," she said. "I'm assuming that there will not be a written test. I'm much better with the other kind." Then she turned to partially face Paul. "It was nice meeting you, Paul," she said with as much smile as she could muster. "Maybe we can get together some other time."

Cole wordlessly led Ellie to his car and they quickly drove off. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned to her. "Eleanor," he sighed with more than a little edge in his voice. "What on God's earth could you possibly have been thinking in there?"

"You shouldn't have come here."

x-x-x-x-x


	34. The Power of Love

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Power of Love**

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_If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing._

_Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres._

_Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known._

_And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love._

_1 Corinthians 13 (NIV)_

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Ellie directed Cole to their hotel. Actually, more accurately, she told him the name of the hotel and he drove them there. Ellie honestly didn't have a clue where they were or even which direction they were heading. They had been in the room for perhaps a grand total of two minutes before Mary and Devon came bursting in. It was just time enough to get a quick hug in. Ellie wanted to make sure that happened before Devon was there to witness it so that he wouldn't misunderstand anything. She was dying to ask Cole about Brigid but now that would clearly have to wait.

Cole spent no time stepping up to Devon. "You clearly must be the remarkable Devon that Chuck and Sarah have been raving so much about," he said warmly as he stuck out his hand. "My name is Cole Barker. It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you. Eleanor babbled on and on so incessantly about you in Cancun that I feel as if we're old friends."

Devon was more than a little surprised as he sized up Cole critically for the first time. From the stories he had heard, he was expecting, well quite frankly, a much more impressive male specimen. He really didn't look like the lady killer that his reputation would suggest. Devon knew that Chuck was crazy jealous of him at one point. The way that Casey told the story, he and Sarah were once a torrid item. That must have meant they were sleeping together. Ellie adamantly insisted that never happened, that Chuck was jealous for a while and assuming the worst but that he was wrong. That must have meant Casey was wrong as well, although he wasn't above exaggerating for effect anyway. But there was also the unfortunate thing with Ellie. It didn't seem to fit that here was this rather short and definitely unshaven man standing a full couple of inches shorter than him. Okay, so there was a jut in his jaw that said he could handle himself. Still, Devon was confident he could take him, if it ever came to that. But he had promised Ellie he wouldn't start anything. And actually, Cole's first impression was hard not to like anyway. So he grabbed the offered hand and shook it warmly. "I've heard a lot about you as well," he said.

Ellie was close to panic watching them as it was, and it had nothing to do with still only being about a third dressed. Even though Devon had promised his best behavior she wasn't totally sure how he was going to react to Cole in the first place, wasn't exactly sure what he meant by 'I've heard a lot about you as well', and wasn't at all eager to pick this particular moment to find out. Until she was more comfortable with Devon's mood, it might be better if she made sure that she was always standing between them. Unlike Devon, Ellie had seen Cole in action. She remembered like it was yesterday Cole beating down those four men at the mall. Devon getting all macho and trying his luck wouldn't end well. So she quickly changed the subject. "Cole," she said. "I'd like you to meet my mom, Mary."

Mary was quick to step up with her own offered hand and dazzling smile. "Agent Barker," she said. "I can't tell you what an honor it is to meet you. Your accomplishments are most impressive."

"Mrs. Bartowski," Cole said. "Please call me Cole. Agent Barker sounds like something that should be typed on a mission report, not suitable for meeting a good friend's charming mother."

"Okay, Cole," Mary said. "In that case, please call me Mary… or if you prefer, my code name, Frost."

Pure surprise caused Ellie to forget her panic for a moment. She caught Devon's eye and they shared a look. What in the world was going on here? Why was mom gushing like a schoolgirl who was talking to the quarterback before class? That wasn't like her at all. Was she actually blushing?

"Frost," Cole mused. "Now there's a famous name for you. How did you ever get them to give you such a legendary code name? It would be like me asking for James Bond." He stood for a moment studying the gleam in her eye. "No way," he finally said. "The Frost? Orion's Frost?"

That got a grin. "Actually," she said warmly. "I think that I rather prefer to refer to him as Frost's Orion. I was the handler. I should get top billing no matter how brilliant he might be, don't you agree? He was the asset. He still is I suppose, just a different sort of one now."

Ellie knew full well that her mouth was hanging open. She absolutely knew it. She hoped that she wasn't looking quite as stupid as Devon currently was with his mouth hanging open, but she knew that it was very possible. Even if she was, there was simply nothing she could do about it at the moment. Clearly neither Cole nor Mom was paying the least bit of attention to her anyway. They were currently staring far too intently at each other. Then it came to her. _Dad was Mom's asset? Wait. That was exactly the term that Sarah had once used to describe Chuck. Could it be that their stories were actually similar?_ There was clearly more to learn about her family history than she had originally guessed. And oh my God, why was Mom so overtly flirting with Cole? She was being far too obvious for a woman of her… umm… maturity level, even if she wasn't supposedly happily married. She was almost old enough to be, well, his mother. But that wasn't even the stunning part. Why was he so overtly flirting back?

"Agent Frost," Cole said. "I'm at a loss for words. This is such an honor."

"I think we've already agreed on Mary," she replied. "Besides, we have some urgent business."

"We desperately need your help."

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Sarah plainly had some motive for rushing him through breakfast. That much was clear from the moment that she reached across him and started buttering his pancakes for him, apparently just in case he'd become tragically paralyzed on the walk from the bedroom to the dining room table… or perhaps she was thinking he'd forgotten somehow which end of the knife to use to butter his pancakes for himself. Fortunately, she was far too cute to take any offense at. All Chuck could do was to grin as she reached over and poured syrup on the stack of freshly buttered pancakes. He halfway expected her to cut them into little bite sized pieces for him. She didn't go quite that far, but something was clearly up. Even Casey was smirking knowingly at her until Misty's not so subtle elbow to his ribs convinced him to… stop.

So Chuck wasn't really all that surprised when the bedroom door wasn't totally closed yet and he suddenly found himself lying helplessly flat on his back on the bed… with his beautiful but deceptively strong blonde bride on top on him, her lips firmly planted on his. In fact, seemingly every part of her body was firmly planted someplace on his, although he was honestly only concentrating on a couple of key parts at the moment. She tasted like a mixture of maple syrup and pure heaven. And she felt like… well, you do the math.

"Care to tell me what brought this on?" he asked as soon as she moved from his mouth and was currently working her way down his neck, doing simply magical things. "Is it… No way… Is it Tuesday already?"

That got her laughing. "Very funny," she said as she paused for a moment to admire her handiwork. "Okay yes, I'm totally out of control. I can't help it. Make fun of me if you must. You do have to admit that I waited until breakfast was over and we were alone. It was your turn to ravage last night. Your effort was pretty weak. Maybe I want to show you how it's really done."

"Weak?" Chuck asked incredulously. "If I remember right, and I'm pretty sure that I do, you were moaning pretty good, missy."

"Okay," Sarah said, still plainly teasing. "In the first place, I believe that you're well aware of how much I hate being called missy. It sounds like something you would name your pet Pomeranian. And I also have no plan of denying your memories of last night. That would be wrong and pointless. Your performance was nothing short of unbelievable. You clearly have been reading some more of Morgan's… umm, true stories. In fact, I consciously saved some of those moans for this morning just in case something very similar happens in a few minutes. And don't mistake what I'm saying. If I had won our bet, it would have been exactly how I would have pictured the evening going. But I didn't win. You did. I'm not sure that you really understand how this game is played. If we're going to be making those kinds of bets, you shouldn't feel badly about collecting your winnings."

Chuck knew better than to try and argue with her. What she didn't seem to realize was that he had a great time last night listening to her moan, that hearing her react to him like that was his very favorite thing in the world. But he fully recognized the look in her eyes right away and knew it was pointless… and maybe even a little stupid to try and get in the way of this particular blonde tornado. So all he could really do was laugh, relax, and allow his amazing wife to get on with whatever she had planned for today's activities. He knew that if he just waited, she would eventually tell him what had happened to turbo charge her motor so close to the red line this morning. After all, patience is a virtue. And besides, she wasn't exactly water boarding him or using some other CIA inspired torture technique. Well maybe that wasn't totally true, but even if she had learned how to do this from the CIA, it sure felt nice. Whatever she had in mind this morning, it clearly didn't include his belt being buckled. Her nimble fingers had already taken care of that little detail as she continued kissing his neck.

Sure enough, it was only a couple of minutes before Sarah lifted her head again. "I was telling Misty the story of our trial togetherness in Cancun," she said. "Remember that first night when we first promised each other that we would spend the rest of our lives together?"

"That would be a hard night to forget," Chuck said in a teasing tone. "I don't think that I ever got to see you take that white bikini off. I'm pretty sure that's something that you still owe me."

Sarah seemed to consider that for a moment. "That's probably technically true," she finally said. "Although I think you'll have to admit, you've seen me take plenty of other things off. Do you want me to go get it right now and pay my debt? Or can it wait for later?"

Clearly the question was rhetorical. So Chuck just nodded his head.

"That was a magical time," Sarah continued with a sigh. "Misty was crying in the kitchen this morning at how romantic it was. I remember every detail of that night so vividly. You were so funny. You had your hand in my shirt pretending to rub my stomach and were so afraid of going to far. You must have reached the edge of my breast about ten times before you'd chicken out. It was fairly cute. It was also annoying and frustrating. Some things haven't changed all that much."

"Hey," Chuck said in protest. "It was your stupid no-sex rule that I was trying to respect. You'll have to admit that I've gone for the gold a few times since then."

"You've been a bit better," Sarah admitted. "I still don't think you believe how much I love it when you make the first move, that there is literally no limit to what you can do." Then her grin turned decidedly evil. "I don't think I ever told you this," she said. "But I had already decided that whatever you wanted that night, you were going to get. I was laying there waiting for you to decide what to do. If you had gone north one inch farther, the clothes were going to hit the floor… along with the stupid no-sex rule."

"Why would you tell me that now?" Chuck groaned. "Seriously? You don't know how much pain I was in."

"Of course I know," Sarah said with a sigh. "Don't you think I was feeling the same pain? I'll bet that I wanted it more than you did that night."

Chuck smiled, placed his hand inside her t-shirt, and slid it up until his fingertips were poking just inside the bottom of her bra. "So," he said with a wicked grin. "If I go north another inch this morning, are the clothes going to hit the floor?"

"I have a news flash for you, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah replied with a laugh. "The clothes are going to hit the floor this morning almost no matter what you do. Is this somehow surprising to you in some way? Now that we're free to do this whenever we want, I plan on taking full advantage until you tell me that you need a break. But first I need to tell you something."

"Okay," Chuck said with his own laugh. "I'm actually a long ways away from needing any sort of break. What story did you want to tell me? Way to spoil the ending by the way."

Suddenly Sarah got serious. "I just want to tell you how much I love you," she said. Then responding to his skeptical look, she slapped his chest playfully. "Yes, I realize that I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know. How about you just shut up and let me say this?"

Taking his silence as agreement, Sarah continued. "Telling Misty our love story this morning made me listen to it myself again. It made me remember just how much our lives have changed in the past month, how much it sucked before we got together. It was so hard for so long… and now it's so perfect. I know that I'm not so good with words. I'm working on it, but I'll probably never be able to say this in a way you deserve."

"Why do you keep saying things like that?" Chuck asked. "I don't want what I deserve. That's probably pretty ordinary. I kind of like this deal of getting far more than I deserve. In case you don't remember this, I think you're extraordinary."

Sarah lifted her head again to look at him. "I'm trying to tell you something important here," she said in mock anger as she playfully slapped his chest again. "Interrupt me again and see what happens. I might cut you off. Well, probably not, but I'll figure out some other way to punish you." Then she took a deep breath and got serious again. "It's much more than I love you, you know? That sounds a little, I don't know, trite maybe. It's ridiculously short of describing how I feel about you. I really don't know how to say it in a way that makes you understand, and that frustrates me sometimes. I hate it when I'm not good at something. I should be able to say this better."

Chuck rubbed her arm, hoping fervently that she wouldn't interpret that as any sort of interruption.

Fortunately, she didn't. "I just want to make sure that you know that I never intend to take this… this amazing fairy tale that I'm now actually living for real… for granted," she said softly. "I feel like a princess and I never want to allow you to forget for a single second how incredibly grateful I am for that. Okay, so maybe I depend on sex to say that more than I should. That's just a cop out, me being a coward. I understand that you need to hear the words sometimes too. I just wish I had better ones for you. I'll do anything it takes to make you as happy as you're making me. And sometimes I feel like I'm letting you down. I know that I've been all negative and worried for the past couple of days. I'm sorry about that. It stops as of now."

Sarah paused for a moment to gently kiss him. "For the record, I do have total faith in you," she continued. "Just like I know that you have faith in me. We're both going to do whatever it takes to secure our future. You're a gift, Chuck. And I'm no longer going to waste a single second of that gift worrying about the future. I'm simply too happy for that. Our love is going to get us through this."

Chuck, clearly still not wanting to incur her wrath by interrupting again just smiled.

"Yes," Sarah sighed with her own smile. "You don't have to say it. I fully understand how ridiculously sappy that sounded. Four weeks ago, I could have never said those words out loud. Even hearing them would have made me want to hurl. It makes me sound like a silly, lovesick little girl. In my defense, I'd just like to point out that's because I now am a silly lovesick little girl. And you know what, Chuck? I really, really like it."

All Chuck could do was to stare at her with something of his own silly grin for a long moment. For one thing, the idea of Sarah as a silly anything was… well, silly. Of all the adjectives you could think of to describe Sarah Walker-Bartowski, silly would be way, way down the list, if it was on the page at all. She maybe at first blush looked the part. A lot of people were fooled by the breath taking good looks and never looked any farther. They assumed that someone so beautiful couldn't possibly be smart. But the honest truth was she could match intellect with anybody.

Since the first day they met, Chuck could only shake his head in amusement as he watched people constantly underestimate her. Yes, her bright blue eyes, golden blonde hair, and innocent smile absolutely made her look like the wholesome girl next door – if you were lucky enough to live next door to heaven. But he had seen her in action too many times. When badass Sarah came out to play she could turn from pretty to pretty deadly in the blink of an eye. Chuck had seen far too many big, strong, trained men fooled by the pretty face into taking her lightly as a foe and watch them pay the high price of multiple bruises and contusions for their poor judgment, if they were lucky enough to avoid the knife in the throat followed by a tag affixed to their big toe.

In many ways she was the perfect agent. She had all the tools. When faced with an adversary she had options that someone like Casey simply didn't have. She could outsmart them, distract them with a smile until they were charmed into helpless submission, or when it was required kick their ass around the room. Chuck had watched all of that for two long years. She was the very best there was. But she had a flaw that Casey didn't, and it was a serious one. Casey was content with the life of an agent. Sarah wasn't. She wasn't happy, she wanted more.

For some magical reason he was perhaps the only one who could get past her formidable walls, could look into those eyes and see the desperation there. He was seemingly the one who understood that the person Sarah was different than the agent Sarah, and that the person Sarah wanted and even needed something. It had been a long and often frustrating quest over and sometimes through those walls. And Chuck would be the first to admit that serious mistakes were made, by both of them. But they were finally there. Yes, it sounded sappy, but the power of their love had carried the day. Sarah was content… truly and honestly happy. It was simply amazing to witness. Some people who thought that they knew her said that she was like a different person. Chuck knew better. She wasn't a different person, she was now free to be the person she always had been. There were some things in his life that Chuck was proud of, not many but a few. And he couldn't claim total credit. Ellie was certainly a huge help. But setting Sarah free was his life's main accomplishment.

Maybe she was so happy that she was painting a rather overly rosy picture of their current situation. Here they were, on the run from the entire government, nine people against the rest of the world in a desperate life and death struggle that would not only determine their future, but probably that of the democracy itself. Not only that, the mental degenerate head case that was in charge of their evil adversaries had a twisted obsession with her. If they lost and he captured them, he was going to make their lives hell. He would take great pleasure as he exacted his revenge by making him watch as he forced her to submit to… well, Chuck didn't even want to think about those specifics.

And of course it wouldn't be Chuck if he didn't think about what she'd done for him as well. Sarah had come into his life at a low point… and had totally turned that around. Of course she had physically protected him, had constantly risked her life for him, but it was far more than that. She had helped him not only survive this new and exciting world, but to actually thrive there. She was so far out of his league that the thought of them being together was sort of ridiculous, and not only because she was so breathtakingly beautiful. She was a freaking female James Bond. Yet she never acted like she was out of his league, not once. The plain, simple, undeniable fact was that Sarah could have been with almost any man she chose, at least for a while… but she chose him. Not only chose him, was genuinely grateful to have him. And yes, there were times when he had doubted that, horrible times when their circumstance made it so painful that it seemed no longer worth it.

And yet as he looked into those unbelievable baby blues this morning none of that seemed to matter. Chuck knew exactly what she was saying. "Our love is unstoppable," he said with a smile. He was very careful to not give her any hint that he was making fun of her… because he totally wasn't. "I'm going to tell Casey what you said about our love getting us through this. I'll bet I can make him hurl."

"If you do, I'll call you a liar to your face," Sarah said with a grin. "He probably wouldn't believe you anyway."

Chuck wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "We're perfect together," he sighed. "It's a force of nature. Those poor, stupid, insignificant bastards think that they are holding all the cards. They don't even have a small clue of what is coming for them, do they? I almost feel a little sorry for them. I know that you don't believe this but I love you just as much as you love me. I'm every bit as happy right now as you are."

Sarah snuggled into his chest for a long, contented moment, so long that Chuck was beginning to think that she had second thoughts about the clothes coming off this morning in favor of some serious snuggling. And that would have been fine. But then she raised her head to look at him once again. The devilish look in her eyes was an immediate tip-off of what was about to come. "No you're not," she said with a grin as she, in a single fluid motion, deftly reached down around his now open belt, unsnapped his pants, and slid her hand south into the waistband. "Not yet."

"But you soon will be."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole just stared intently as Mary calmly told him the story of the Ring's plans to take over the government. Finally he sighed. "I knew that when I saw Eleanor in that seedy bar dressed like this that something horrible was afoot," he said. "But I wasn't thinking anything on this scale. I won't insult you by asking if you're sure… but this is incredible."

"I know," Ellie sighed. "It's like a bad movie script. Will you help us?"

Cole got quiet. "I know that you didn't intend to insult me just then," he finally said. "But, Eleanor, I expected that you know me better than that. Even if you, Chuck, and Sarah weren't my only friends in the world, this is my duty. An American President… assassinated on British soil? It isn't going to happen on my watch."

Ellie was still on edge, not wanting to send any untoward message to Devon. But she figured he would understand this, so she reached out and grabbed Cole's arm. "The last thing I would ever want is to insult you," she said. "I'm so sorry if you took it that way. I just didn't want to assume anything."

"Don't be sorry," Cole quickly said. "These are extraordinary circumstances. We're going to have to work on some sort of a plan. I can only deal with the MI-6 chaps. We're going to have to figure out some way to get past the President's personal security somehow."

"Don't worry about that," Mary quickly said. "We have an agent getting close to the head of his protection detail as we speak. He'll be completely compromised."

"Sarah?" Cole questioned in obvious concern.

"No," Mary answered. "Her name is Carina Miller. I've never met her but she is an ex-partner of Sarah's. Most recently she was on loan to the DEA. Steven tells me that she is most competent. Seduction is apparently her specialty."

"Thank goodness," Cole sighed. "I hoped that Chuck wouldn't have to witness anything like Agent Walker in action with a mark. It's much too soon for that. He wouldn't be up for that, and who could blame him? They have some hope to really make it. I'd hate for anything to spoil that chance."

"I don't think you have to worry much about that," Ellie said with a huge grin. "I seriously doubt that Agent Walker will be going on any more seduction missions ever again. In fact, I'm sure of it. Agent Walker no longer exists. Chuck and Sarah got married a week ago tomorrow. It's Sarah Bartowski now. They made it."

Cole stood there for a long moment as he processed Ellie's news. "They got married?" he finally asked with a huge grin. "I think that might be the best news I've ever heard. Good for Chuck. Well, I guess something good came of all of this foolishness then after all. There is no longer any reason for those two kids to have to sneak around." Then he turned to fully face Ellie. "Congratulations, Eleanor," he said. "Or should I say Miss Cupid? They didn't stand a chance against you did they?"

That got them laughing out loud. "I'd love to take full credit," Ellie finally was able to choke out. "But I'm afraid this time it was all them. You should see them together, Cole. If you thought that Sarah was a lovesick schoolgirl in Cancun, now she's ten times worse. She acts like the sun rises and sets… in his pants."

"It's almost sickening, even for me."

x-x-x-x-x


	35. The Power of Lust

_There are many metaphors that have been used through the ages to symbolize the innate struggle between good and evil. God vs Satan (thanks to my good friend MaloMoriQuamFoedari for constantly reminding me of Dante). Daylight vs Darkness. Little Angels and corresponding little Demons on someone's shoulders. Pepsi vs Coke. The list goes on and on. Here is mine. Sorry if it makes anybody uncomfortable. Well, honesty requires me to admit that I'm not really all that sorry. It just seemed like the thing to say. __Yes, things are going to look grim for a while. Hang in there. If evil isn't truly evil, then good prevailing wouldn't mean much. Blame my tireless beta Lucky47 if you must (not really, but it makes me feel better)._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Power of Lust**

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_Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust. - Marquis de Sade_

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It never got old, watching the tape of that Bartowski simpleton screaming in pain mixed with equal parts of fear. In fact it was probably one of the best moments of Daniel Shaw's life when he finally learned of his confirmed capture. It was bound to happen, just a matter of time, really. After all, they had every analyst in the beltway trying to figure out how he had been using their technology against them so effectively. It was about fucking time that one of those supposedly brilliant morons who loved to parade around in those nerdy white jackets finally actually earned their keep and discovered a way to track him.

In the end the capture all seemed a bit… anticlimactic somehow. For all the tense near misses and spectacular escapes, he actually surrendered without much of a fight at all. That didn't surprise Daniel much. After all, without Walker by his side, he didn't stand a chance. He wasn't an agent. In fact, by his reckoning Bartowski wasn't even much of a man. So when they figured out how to finally get him alone he had no answer for the twenty man top-notch elite team that quickly surrounded him. They didn't even really need to use the taser, not really. Watching him writhe on the ground in agony was apparently more for the amusement of the capture team than it was required to secure him. And that was more than fine with Daniel. A job that well done deserved some amusement.

Daniel had already watched the tape of Bartowski's initial interrogation some twenty times. Like an old favorite movie, he saw subtle things that he had previously missed every time he re-watched it. Oh, they had been instructed to be careful not to inflict any permanent damage. After all, he actually did have a great deal of value. After the coup they could absolutely use the intersect with devastating effect to help squash any resistance. But that didn't mean they had to be gentle with him, the mouse that was quickly forming under his left eye was testament to that. There were plenty of techniques in the CIA interrogation playbook to cause excruciating pain without actually causing any long term damage. In this instance, electric shock to some rather intimate body parts seemed the preferred choice. It was an excellent choice. It served the dual purpose of not only being extremely humiliating, but devastatingly painful as well. And even though they ultimately eventually needed some measure of cooperation from Bartowski, it certainly wouldn't hurt to remind him who was in charge… along with adding one additional memory into that impressive brain of his… the enormous price he would pay for any pathetic attempt at insubordination.

However number twenty-one proved to be his favorite viewing of the tape… actually by a wide margin. It was obvious why, this time he wasn't alone. Oh, he knew she'd come. There was absolutely no surprise there. It really didn't take a clairvoyant to predict that once they had Bartowski in custody, she would be quickly here to try and bargain with him. And sure enough, it had only been a little over a day and she was already calling him asking to meet. She was so desperate that didn't even try and negotiate a neutral location, or maybe she just realized how pointless it would have been. She quickly agreed to come to the facility. An hour later and here she was.

On one hand, it was truly impressive how bravely she was willing to sacrifice herself for her husband. She clearly fully understood that coming here meant putting herself both physically and emotionally at Daniel's mercy. Love was certainly a powerful emotion. On the other hand, it was also a pathetic weakness that an agent simply couldn't afford. Look at this example, it ultimately led to her downfall. She had only herself to blame. She had been told in training over and over and freaking over again not to ever allow herself to fall in love. It was the very first rule of being a spy. But she didn't listen, she had fallen and now it was time to pay the price. Whatever indignities Sarah Walker was going to suffer today, she owed it all to love. If there was one thing that Daniel knew, lust trumped love any day of the week. And today was the day to prove it.

To her credit, Agent Walker was clearly determined to not show any fear. But her eyes betrayed her dismay as she sat there watching the video of him. He really did look pathetic… naked, battered and bruised, and over and over again struggling against his binds, trying in vain to avoid the next shock from the taser. She couldn't help but involuntarily shudder each time he would let out one of those blood curdling screams. But it was actually the look in his eyes silently pleading for it to all end somehow that was plainly affecting her most. Yup, it was the eyes that gave them both away. She was perhaps a trained agent putting on a brave front but she was also a wife. And she couldn't help but betray the emotion she was feeling.

"This is barbaric," she finally said, trying hard to hide the desperation in her voice. "Please. He's not trying to resist in any way. He answered every question they asked. This is beyond pointless. Why is he being treated so inhumanly?"

"He's a terrorist," Daniel replied with a smug grin. "He's directly responsible for the death of close to a hundred government agents. He's lucky that he's being treated this well. Trust me, it can very easily get worse, much worse."

"He's not a terrorist," she quickly protested. "And no matter what you might think of him, where is the sport in mindlessly torturing a helpless man? Are you doing this so that you can prove a point? Okay, we get it. Please let me talk to him. He's valuable to you. I'm sure that we can work something out where he can help you without resorting to… to this."

Daniel made no attempt to hide the gloating smirk. After all, why should he? This was his hour. "Agent Walker," he said mockingly, knowing full well her hot button reaction to being called that. "I think you know very well what my terms are. We can talk about your possible input into Mr. Bartowski's next interrogation session… after," he said. "Did you bring it?"

She was clearly trying hard to show that she wasn't intimidated and keep whatever small negotiating leverage she could find. "I need to see him," she said calmly. "Then maybe we can talk."

But Daniel wasn't having any of it. If he wasn't holding all of the cards before, he sure as hell was now. So he wasn't going to give her a single inch. It was time to see her crawl. "Sir?" he prodded firmly with an even bigger smirk as he raised his voice to an authoritative level. "Let's get something very straight between us. We're not negotiating here, Agent Walker. You've had plenty of chances to negotiate with me over the past several days. You decided that you'd rather poke fun at me and laugh in my face. So let's agree on some terms here this afternoon before we go any further. You came here of your own free will. You still have a choice. Nobody is going to force you into anything. I'll even let you leave if you chose. But you're here begging me for a favor. If we're going to continue this discussion, I think that I need to hear you admit that. If you're not ready to do that, come back when you are."

Daniel could plainly see her internal struggle as she paused for a long moment, clearly weighing her options. He could plainly see the dismay in her face when she finally came to the correct conclusion, that she didn't have any. "Yes, sir," she finally sighed. "I'm asking for a favor. Please let me talk to him."

Daniel smiled the smile of victory. "Let's also agree on something else," he said. "I don't have to do this. I'm in no hurry at all. You and your pathetic husband have caused me more than a little inconvenience. I wouldn't mind watching him suffer for a few more days. In fact, I would rather enjoy that. So I think that it's only common sense that if you have any hope that I'm going to intercede on your behalf, you have some work to do. I can assure you, if there is a next round, it will be even more intense than the one you just witnessed. The faster that you can talk me into granting you your favor, the faster that you can save you husband from having to endure his next… interrogation session. Making me angry, as you're now on the very edge of doing, wouldn't be very smart at all… or very healthy for your unfortunate husband. There is one way to prevent that, and that's by going all in on proving to me that you're ready to earn my assistance. Do we agree?"

The defeated look on her face betrayed the totality of her surrender more than any words could. "Yes, sir," she finally said. "I'll do what you ask. Please, just don't hurt him any more."

"Excellent," he said. "Now I'll ask again for the final time… did you bring it?"

"Yes, sir," she said softly.

Daniel just smiled. He knew that she would. After all, CIA Agents were nothing if not pragmatists. She knew damn well what 'it' was. Hell. She knew before she even called him what it would take to get her and her husband out of this mess. She was here to pay his price. "Good," he said. "Show it to me."

She didn't respond, she just reached down, fished it out of her bag, and held it up to him.

Daniel's smug smile grew as he watched her standing there uncomfortably, holding that ridiculously sheer negligee in her hand. It was in stark contrast to the black mission uniform she was currently wearing. This might be a little fun. "You can change in there," he said as he indicated a door with his hand. "Quickly."

Daniel had waited a long, long frustrating time for this moment. To say that the past few days were unpleasant was something of an understatement. But he had to admit, if anything in life was worth those long uncomfortable days, it was the sight of Sarah Walker as she stepped out of the bathroom in that red negligee. It was actually hard to describe. You would have to reach to call it an article of clothing. It hid absolutely nothing. If anything, it just highlighted the fact that she was naked. She had clearly totally capitulated. The fact that she was now wearing heels without it even being demanded and had taken her hair down so that it now hung softly over her shoulders said very plainly that she knew what he was expecting and was trying hard to get on his good side. She was making herself look as attractive as possible for him. Mission certainly accomplished there. She was breath taking.

She had clearly decided that the only way out of this was to give him anything that he wanted. And now he was totally prepared to take it. Here she was, the mighty Sarah Walker totally at his mercy. She was on her knees begging, perhaps figuratively for the moment, but very, very soon quite literally. So he waived for her to come stand before him where he was sitting. And actually, she made no effort to resist. She probably figured correctly that showing any modesty or reluctance would only lead to more embarrassing instructions. So she didn't attempt to cover herself at all as she silently complied with his order. In fact, she was standing so close that her legs were touching his. She stood there silently in her high heels and scant little else with her arms at her side as she obediently posed for him.

Daniel would have loved to have the opportunity to totally break her spirit. But he knew that would require a long term project that he simply didn't have enough time for. It would take a couple of months to break even the weakest trained agent. Even Hannah Watkins had taken some four months before she was totally broken. Walker would take much longer than that, if it was even possible. And White had already made it very clear that he was only going to give him a short time to play. Walker was far too valuable to the Ring. He would soon insist that she assume her new duties of making sure that the intersect was cooperative. White had already warned him that part of the deal he was going to make with her included a guarantee of keeping Shaw away as long as they fully and without reservation cooperated. So White actually encouraged him to make this session as distasteful and uncomfortable for her as he possibly could. That would give her another incentive to take her assignment seriously and encourage Bartowski to fully cooperate. White would use his keeping her away from him as a reward for a job well done, and an implied threat in case of any unfortunate issues.

So that gave Daniel a very short window of time to see how much submission he could get out of her. Perhaps he could stretch this out for a whole day, but even that might be pushing it. He probably only had this afternoon and the rest of the night. So that meant that he had to make every second count while he could. Daniel just sat for a long moment as he calmed his own breathing and watched her standing there uncomfortably staring into space. He took his time and carefully checked out his newest toy from head to toe, and back again as he softly rubbed the inside of her leg. He gradually allowed his hand to drift ever higher, wordlessly daring her to make any sort of move to stop him. She clearly understood that he was baiting her because, not only did she make no such move, she actually finally shifted a little to give him a better angle. So he stopped just before reaching the point of no return.. It would be fun to see how far he could push her. "I expect my instructions to be verbally acknowledged," he finally said. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir," she replied as she finally met his eye and bit her lip nervously. "I understand. Look, I agree that you're in control here. I'll do whatever you ask. I have no doubt as to what that's going to include. But could we possibly keep Chuck from seeing it? It would crush him to have to watch that. There is no sense in hurting him any further, is there? He's already been through so much. Destroying his will to live would probably even make him worthless for you. I mean, I'm not going to be able to deny that something happened with you. But maybe I can couch it to him in a way that won't be quite as devastating… as long as he doesn't have to actually witness it."

Daniel grinned as he recognized her last pathetic attempt at negotiation. She had now given him something to hold over her head for the rest of her life. Naturally, she had correctly assumed that this session was being recorded. "That's mostly up to you," he replied as he took a sip of the drink he was holding and then placed it back on the table. "Let's face facts. You're hardly in a position to make any demands."

"No, sir," she quickly replied. "Of course not. I'm just respectfully pointing out that it would be in both of our best interests to not totally crush him. And that I would be very grateful."

Daniel was having a hard time controlling his own excitement. This couldn't be possibly going any better. She had just been very careful to defer to him. She actually verbally admitted that he was in firm control and was asking for a favor. He was expecting to have to force that out of her. He was somewhat lucky that he was sitting. It would have been… umm, hard to stand at this particular moment. "You should be aware, at one time this could have gone a bit easier for you," he said. "For you to prove to me that we were friends I was once probably willing to settle for a nice dinner, a few drinks and an evening or two of becoming closer. I still would have demanded sex, but it could have happened as peers, with more dignity and in the dark with a minimum of theatrics. But your unfortunate actions of the past few weeks have caused me to rethink that. So now, if you want my help in keeping this from him you're going to have to go the extra mile to earn back some of my good will. You need to prove that you're willing to be obedient to me. Why don't we begin that process with a little entertainment? Let's start by seeing how slowly you can lift that garment over your head and toss it to the floor. Then we'll begin our afternoon's activities."

It was a totally symbolic request… and they both knew it. She was already more or less standing there naked. Daniel knew that humiliating her by making her perform for him was pushing her envelope to the very edge. He knew that the proud Agent Walker would be dying to refuse. Frankly, that's exactly what made it such a turn on. He could see the wheels turning in her head as she was racking her brain trying to figure out a way out of this. Her only options were to submit or fight. And if it came down to a fight between them, there was no doubt who would quickly win. He could clearly see the hatred bubbling in those blue eyes. That rage would be tough to defeat.

But Daniel was completely confident that she wouldn't fight. In fact, he was halfway hoping that she would try something. He had twenty men just a shout away. White's clock wouldn't start ticking until she was completely submissive. It might be even more fun to finally force her compliance by watching another session of ever more brutal torture of poor Mr. Bartowski. He could then use her refusal to up the ante even more. If she wasn't all in today, she soon would be. So he waited with wide eyes to see what she would do.

She certainly swallowed hard but in the end she probably correctly recognized that she ultimately had no choice. Any refusal would just mean that the next request would be even more degrading. So she really made no move to resist. "Yes, sir," she said as she reached down for the hem of her negligee and started to, oh so slowly, lift it. When she finally had pulled it over her head and was holding it in her hand, she hesitated for a brief moment before allowing it to fall softly to the floor. Then she took a moment to pat her hair back in place before returning her arms to her side emotionlessly again allowing him full access to view her now completely bare form.

Well, that much was settled. She had plainly just punched the clock. It was now definitely ticking. The only question left was what task to have her perform first. As Daniel contemplated his multitude of options, he reached up and pulled her down into his lap. The look on her face plainly said that she could feel for herself how… excited he was. He certainly couldn't characterize that first kiss as enthusiastic, but she made no move to get away from it either. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get her to open her mouth, he broke the kiss and pulled back. "Really, Agent Walker?" he asked in mock offense. "You come asking for my help and this is the effort I get?"

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Then she paused for a long moment. "This is… look, this is just a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've only been married for a few days. I promised him…" Then she saw his eyes narrow in anger and quickly retreated. "I'm sorry. I know that's not your problem. I'll do better."

She clearly didn't realize this, or she never would have done it, but she couldn't have possibly said anything more exciting to him if she had tried. Not only was the great Sarah Walker sitting obediently on his lap naked waiting for his next order, she was actually apologizing to him for being reluctant to break her infant wedding vows. It really didn't get much better than that. And true to her word, the next kiss was even better… a little. She finally opened her mouth obediently when he probed and gave him access. But there still was no illusion of participation.

Daniel could probably never be mistaken for a generous man in any case. But he was currently particularly in no mood to give her a single inch. After all, why should he? His victory over her had been hard fought. She was going to pay full price for every shot she had taken at him. So he broke the tepid kiss again. "That was not even close to being good enough," he said firmly. "I'm afraid that I'm going to need substantially more effort to be in a mood to grant you any favors. Really, Agent Walker, this is just the warm up. If you're this bothered by a little kissing, how are you possibly going to get through the rest of this night?" Then to further prove his point he slowly and conspicuously reached around and placed his hand on her newly bare but always perfect left breast. As long as he was going for lust anyway, what better place to start? He began rubbing in small circles somewhat less than gently, carefully looking for any reaction, again daring her to protest in any way. "This will be my final warning today. The next time will cost your husband twenty-four more hours of interrogation before you'll be allowed to try again tomorrow. Now, do you want my help or not?"

Daniel just sat there starring at her, waiting for her response… but he knew. In the battle between love and lust, her love had defeated her, in fact, it had her helpless. It was simply no match for his lust. Finally she came to the only possible conclusion and surrendered again.

"Yes, sir," she finally sighed. "I do. Please give me another chance." She then turned to give his hand a better angle and initiated the next kiss on her own, placing her own hands behind his head and pressing her mouth to his. Whatever lack of enthusiasm there was before was now long gone. Indeed she even made the first move of opening her mouth and dancing her tongue with his.

Daniel smiled as he enjoyed the second base necking action for a long moment until he broke the kiss again. "That was much better," he said condescendingly. "But I expect even more. The fake moan was a nice touch. Keep them coming all night. Now let's try that one more time before we move on. As long as we're running the bases, why stop at second? Don't you think?"

He took the hand that had been on her breast and moved it to lie flat on her stomach. All he had to do was glare and wait until she got the message that he was expecting a response. "Yes, sir," she said as she obediently shifted her legs again to give him the proper angle to reach his objective. Once he was there he waited for a long moment before smiling. "See," he said condescendingly. "I told you that you might enjoy yourself. Admit it."

Daniel knew that he was pushing her as far as he could. The last thing she would want to do was have to pretend to enjoy this. But she did it. "Yes, sir," she whispered.

"Good. Let's continue," he said as he nodded for her to resume the kiss. He allowed this next kiss to last for a good long while.

Finally he broke it and looked her in the eyes. "Come on, Agent Walker," he said with a smirk. "That was a nice warm up. But you're a smart girl. You've been in this situation a time or two. I think that you know what I want next. It will earn you some extra credit if you can guess and do it without being told. If you can significantly exceed my expectations I might even be happy enough with you to give you a reward. Maybe I could even be talked into allowing you to see your husband today for a minute or two while I recover for our main event later. Would you like that?"

Daniel prided himself on his manipulation skills but even he had to admit, this last thing was a pure stroke of genius. She had clearly correctly guessed… not that that by itself was all that terribly impressive. She was also just as clearly motivated to earn her reward. Oh, he had no illusions about her wanting to do this. She would much rather throw a knife into his throat. But seeing her husband was predictably something that she was desperate to do. Of course she must have realized that his expectations were… quite high. So she was suddenly at least pretending to be enthusiastic. In fact, it was as if someone had flicked on a light switch. She almost instantly transformed into an agent on a seduction mission. She moved quickly to his neck, kissing her way. Then she started kissing her way down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as she went. "Agent Shaw," she said rather sweetly. "I really, really want to see him today. If you would make that happen for me, this is only a small down payment of what we have in store. I'll spend the rest of the night showing my gratitude."

She softy slid off his lap and ended up on the floor fumbling with his belt. "Agent Shaw sounds so formal considering what's about to happen," she said with a sexy pout. "Can I call you Daniel?" Then in one fluid motion his belt was quickly off and she was holding it in her hand. "Tell me, Daniel," she breathed with a soft smile without actually waiting for permission. "I have something of a reputation for being a good guesser. Give me a hint. Am I getting warm at all?"

Daniel just smiled and leaned back as he felt the button on his pants give way. He had been around plenty of agents doing the seduction thing but he had to admit, when Walker was properly motivated, she was the very best. He could actually feel himself falling for her act… a little. So he helped her a bit by lifting his hips to allow her to pull them off and watched as they joined her negligee on the floor. Then he relaxed and closed his eyes, fully intending to savor every magical sensation of his hard earned victory over the previously undefeated, and till now untamed, Sarah Walker.

After a couple of unbelievable minutes he was fighting to make this last as long as possible. She must have sensed that and was doing her best to stretch it out for him because she paused and lifted her head to smile again. "So, Daniel, not to appear boastful, but you seem to be enjoying this. Be honest. How am I doing measured against your expectations? Is it what you wanted?"

"Didn't you hear me, Daniel? Is this hot enough for you?"

Suddenly the limo door abruptly opened and the dome light came on, flooding the car in light and jolting him back into the real world.

"Damn, Daniel," Ted Roark said as he stepped into the limo. "What are you doing here in the dark, sleeping? Didn't you hear me the first two times? This car is way too hot. Is that really how you want it? Haven't you people ever heard of air conditioning?"

That completely shattered the mood. So poor Daniel Shaw didn't get a chance to complete tonight's version of his imaginary fantasy daydream of his conquest of Sarah Walker, at least not right then. That was annoying enough. But then there was the sight of Ted Roark. He may have been one of the richest men in the world, but he sure as hell wasn't much of a dresser. Shaw could only shake his head in disgust. He could never respect someone who didn't bother to make himself look good. That sweat suit looked like it was created in the early eighties. He wasn't impressive on any level. Even his fortune was more from being in the right place at the right time rather than him being particularly smart or innovative. But in this particular circumstance necessity was the mother of invention. One good thing, Roark may have looked like a total dork, but at least he never did take much time getting to the point. "Agent Shaw," he said with his customary annoyingly dismissive never-serious speaking style as he plopped down in the seat across from him. "It's been a long time. You wanted to meet. What can I do for you?"

Shaw knew that he was taking a huge, most would even say stupid, gamble here. Even the appearance of betraying White and the Ring to Fulcrum would mean a quick bullet to the head should it ever become discovered. He would now have to play a dangerous balancing act to keep playing both sides against the middle without being found out. And it really wasn't even the smart play. He clearly had a much better position within the Ring hierarchy. And he was actually still holding all of the cards in his battle of wills with Walker. Once the Ring was in charge and the country was in martial law, she couldn't stay hidden forever. The smart thing to do would just be to bide his time and wait her out. This nightly fantasy of his would someday become real. She'd be on her knees submitting to him eventually.

The only problem was that the Ring's strategy would take far too long. Walker was smart… and highly trained. If she took Bartowski underground, she could possibly stay hidden for a long time. It might even take years. Fulcrum could find them much quicker, especially once they learned what Shaw could tell them. Ted Roark and Fulcrum might be harder to deal with. After all, he was famous for being something of a flake, unpredictable at best. But they weren't nearly as handicapped by any compunction over some unfortunate publicity caused by some perhaps less than gentle methods. They also had no use for Walker so he wouldn't be subject to any arbitrary time limit in dealing with her. He could take his time and break her properly. And Shaw had already decided… he was done waiting. This was no longer something that he wanted… it had now crossed the border into need. And he needed it as quickly as possible. It was time for lust to carry the day… as it always did. He was now all in on lust. "Well, Ted," he said with a sigh.

"This is your lucky day."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were in their customary position after such a robust lovemaking session, cuddled with the sheet pulled over their heads softly kissing and trying to catch their collective breath. Fortunately, being sappy seemed to be quite the catalyst for them really connecting physically.

"Wow," Sarah finally felt she had recovered enough strength to say. "That… that was…"

"I know," Chuck panted. "That was… that was…"

Well, whatever adjectives they were about to use to describe probably their wildest time in bed, and quite truthfully in various other parts of the room, will probably never be known because they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I'm so sorry," Misty said as she poked her head cautiously through the barely open door. "I hate to interrupt such a special occasion. But Steven wants to see the team in the family room right away."

"Special occasion?" Casey's booming voiced mocked her from behind. "Are they really in bed again? Oh my God. What special occasion? It's Tuesday."

Casey and Misty had only been a couple now for a little over a day. But that was apparently long enough for him to anticipate the mostly good natured elbow that Misty threw, aiming for his ribs. So he was able to avoid it. "They're on their honeymoon," she protested. "They've only been married for a week. Can't you seriously be even a tiny bit romantic?"

When they finally entered the family room, the first thing they noticed was Carina standing there talking to Steven. Naturally, Misty noticed the look between her and Casey right away.

But Steven didn't allow any time for chit chat. As usual he wasted little time getting to the point. "We have a decision to make," he said as soon as everyone was seated. "Carina reports that her mission has been a huge success. Our man is now completely compromised. Mary also reports that Agent Barker is on board and in position. After tonight, we'll be committed. This is our final opportunity to run."

"Dad," Chuck said with a sigh. "Haven't we been through this? How can we run? What's changed?"

"The Ring thinks that it is possible that you might have been in that farmhouse when it exploded," Steven said with a smile. "That's what has changed. They're not completely sure that you're not already dead. That fire was far too hot to leave any bodies. And it would take them years to shift through the ashes analyzing the mixed DNA of some eighty different people. Even if they did try, they would never be able to account for half the people that died in that house. If you simply disappeared for a few months, they would eventually give up."

Chuck simply shook his head. "They will never give up," he said. "If we allow them to take over the country, it's only a matter of time before they find us."

"Son," Steven said. "I'm not telling you what to do… or anybody for that matter. You're all capable of making your own decisions. But remember what Shaw wants more than anything. If we fight and lose…"

"Then we'll just have to make sure that we don't lose," Chuck replied firmly remembering Sarah's words to him of just a couple of hours ago. "All that Shaw moron has is lust. We'll have to depend on our love to get us through this. Love kicks lust's ass any day of the week."

Carina turned to Chuck and smiled… warmly. "You really believe that don't you?" she asked softly. "You know how much I want to fight. But don't underestimate lust. It is plenty powerful. It is perhaps the most powerful of human emotions. As agents, it's our most powerful weapon."

"But it's not more powerful than love," Misty protested. "Come on. True love is far more powerful. It's the most powerful force in the universe."

Casey looked at Misty cautiously. "I'm not really trying to start a fight," he said. "But you clearly haven't seen what an agent has seen. Lust is far more powerful."

All the eyes in the room turned to Sarah. She was the tie breaker. Not that this was actually a vote or anything. And it wasn't really fair anyway. Sarah was an agent. Of course she would see things that way. So naturally Chuck wasn't surprised in the least when she got up, walked over to where he was sitting, and plopped down in his lap. "Love kicks lust's ass any day of the week," she said as she softly kissed him. "Chuck is absolutely right. Not only that, he's so unbelievably cute doing it."

It was hard to tell if Casey or Carina initially groaned the loudest. But clearly Misty's glare caused Carina to continue the protest all on her own. "I thought we had some sort of agreement," she said. "That you two would keep that stuff out of our sight."

Sarah's grin at her oldest friend was truly something to behold. "Get used to it," she said as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder lovingly. "I don't care anymore. Don't worry. I'll wait until after the meeting is over before I give him the physical portion of his reward. But there's one thing for sure."

"It's time to go all in on love."

x-x-x-x-x


	36. The Lake

_This chapter was getting very long. So I'd rather post a bonus chapter on Monday rather than one really long chapter. In the past when I've done that, I've gotten complaints that the ending was abrupt. So if you feel that way, there is a 2nd half to this chapter coming on Thursday._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Lake**

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_A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. - Henry David Thoreau_

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah really didn't want to go down to the lake. It's not that she didn't like lakes. She enjoyed being by the water, a lot actually. And it was a hot summer day, perfect for lying by a cool lake. It's just… well, she was newly married. In fact, if she was anything approaching a normal bride, she would only be in the middle of her honeymoon. And she was more in a mood to take her cute newlywed groom back into their room and… well, you do the math.

That's when she figured that maybe she should give in and spend some quality time with the gang down by the lake. After all, they would be splitting up in a few days for the mission to save the President. And honestly all she was thinking about lately was sex with Chuck. That couldn't be totally healthy, right? For another thing, Misty was sort of pleading with her. It also occurred to Sarah that someone might have to referee between Carina and Misty. No telling what Carina would wear to swim in and in front of Casey that might not go over so well. Actually knowing Carina's propensity to shock, not wear was probably closer to being accurate. She could very easily find some ridiculous excuse to turn this into an adult version of show-and-tell. Maybe she should also warn Chuck about that.

Besides, she was starting to develop this vague worry that poor Chuck might start to wear down soon if she didn't begin to ease up on him a bit. Although in fairness, he had shown absolutely no sign of that so far. He was proving to be surprisingly durable. Maybe he wasn't so great at making the first move, but he certainly didn't lack for any participation once she began things.

And actually Sarah quickly found out that she was wrong, about a lot of things. First, Carina's bikini couldn't be mistaken for chaste, but it certainly wasn't overly revealing. In fact as long as she didn't drink too many of the beers that filled the cooler and could be talked into keeping it on, it was actually more conservative than the white number from Cancun that Sarah was wearing. Misty was the only one who didn't have a bikini. She was wearing an orange colored t-shirt, which for some reason made her look sexier in a girl-next-door way than a skimpy bikini would have anyway. Go figure. Sarah didn't ask beyond the t-shirt but she strongly suspected not much, if anything, was under it. At least it wasn't horribly revealing, until it got wet anyway. They'd have to cross that bridge when they came to it. Besides Chuck was beyond cute conspicuously trying hard to not look at her. Especially given that Misty was plainly the type of woman that Chuck would normally be very attracted too. He was clearly taking his promise to be sensitive around other woman to heart. That alone was adorable enough to make Sarah want to drag him into the woods and… Well, that was about enough of that kind of thinking. She was here to spend some quality time with the team.

Another thing that Sarah was wrong about was how much fun she was having. It all started on the drive here with the impromptu four-wheeler race between her and Carina. Okay, so maybe Chuck's stern lecture later was technically correct, that narrow two wheel path winding through the hills probably wasn't designed with racing in mind. But come on, Chuck, these vehicles were designed for off-road stuff. Besides, he really didn't have much of a gripe coming. He knew how competitive she was when he married her. His girlish screams as he hid his eyes from death were actually kinda cute.

That led to the other thing that Sarah was wrong about. This lake was simply fabulous. No wonder that Ellie had raved on and on so much about it. Chuck and Sarah were certainly used to the beach. Hell, they practically lived on one. And there was the two weeks they had just spent in Cancun. But this was completely different. In fact, there wasn't even technically a beach. The grass extended all the way to the water. But it was so much better. This was their own personal lake, completely hidden from the rest of the world. It was a place where all their troubles didn't seem to exist. The Ring, Fulcrum? They seemed so impotent here.

It was one of those perfect mid summer days where there was not a single cloud in the sky. The temperature was somewhere in the nineties so when you were in the sun it was hot. But there were plenty of shade trees around where the soft breeze coming off the water felt simply wonderful.

Chuck was lying on his stomach next to Sarah. They had spread a blanket on the grass up on the hill, just out of sight of the water. Since they had just been in for a swim, the warm sun felt good as they just relaxed and soaked up the rays. Misty had taken Casey for a canoe ride. Apparently she was a bit more experienced than Ellie in that regard. If Chuck stood on his tiptoes he could barely see them off in the distance floating on the other side of the lake. Misty had clearly taken them out of sight of Carina's bikini… and Sarah's for that matter. Carina was still in the water and promised to be for some time. Perhaps she was working off some excess energy, but more than likely she was giving Chuck and Sarah some alone time.

Chuck was actually about to fall asleep when he felt Sarah rubbing his back. "You don't want to get sunburned," she said with a sheepish smile while holding up a tube of sunscreen.

All Chuck could do was grin. Some people might have taken some offense. But why on earth would he do that? This was just his Sarah being protective of him like she always was. It was way too cute to be annoyed with. And her rubbing it in felt amazingly good anyway. Besides that, he did actually burn rather easily. "Thanks, Mom," he said. "Do you want me to put some on you?"

But she just shook her head. "I'm okay," she said. "My tan is kinda wearing off from Cancun and I'd like to get some sun anyway."

"Now," Chuck teased. "If you would just fetch me a cold beer from the cooler, I think your wifely duties would be complete for a few minutes."

But to his surprise, she got up. So he grabbed her wrist. "Sarah," he quickly said. "I was just teasing."

"I'm trying my best to be a good wife," she said with a sigh. "I'll admit I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing. I'm sorry about that. But if you expect me to fetch beer for you, if that's what a wife does, I guess I'd better learn to do it. The last thing I would want would be to disappoint you in some way. I'm already barefoot. We're working on the pregnant part."

"Oh my God," Chuck said in horror. "Sarah, I was just joking. I would never ask you to fetch…" Then he saw the look on her face and realized she was teasing. "Okay, very funny," he said in relief as they both started laughing.

"As it turns out, I'm thirsty," Sarah said as soon as she could stop laughing. "So I might as well fetch you your beer at the same time. Maybe I'll build up some wife cred."

Chuck really wasn't all that much of a beer drinker, but this one was ice cold and it really hit the spot. So he took a long chug. "This is great," he said. "Why are you drinking water?"

Sarah was clearly soaking in the cuteness that was radiating off her husband like a heat lamp. So she couldn't keep the giant grin from her face, not that she was actually trying in any way. "We're actively trying to have a baby," she said. "Remember that little talk? Hello? Saving a fortune on condoms? Does the word 'swimmers' ring a bell? Who knows when it will happen? I'd hate to wake up from a beer buzz one day and then find out I was pregnant."

"Of course I remember," Chuck said with a grin. "It was only a week ago."

"I thought that you would," Sarah sighed as she tossed the now empty bottle on the grass and rolled back over to her stomach. "You were so excited. You even made the first move for once."

Chuck followed her lead and rolled over as well. They just relaxed there in the sun for a long moment. "Sarah," he said softly. "If I ask you a question, will you give me an honest answer… without worrying if you're hurting my feelings?"

Sarah turned to look at him with a puzzled smile. "Probably not," she said. "I can't imagine ever saying something to you that I knew would hurt your feelings… unless perhaps it was to protect you. But I'll also never lie to you. Why don't you ask me your question? If I can't answer it, I'll just subtly change the subject while I lean forward and accidentally press my chest against yours. Then I'll pretend to stumble getting up and my top will catch on your chest and slip off a little. You probably won't even remember the question."

Chuck paused for a long moment. "Wow," he finally said. "Now I'm not sure which outcome I'm hoping for. But here goes. Is it really bothering you that I'm not aggressive enough when it comes to our love life? It must be. That's the second time today you've made a reference to it."

Sarah suddenly realized that he was being serious. So she rolled over to face him. "I'm sorry if you took that as me taking a shot at you," she quickly said. "I didn't mean it like that at all. I was mostly joking."

"But it does bother you, right?"

Sarah sighed as she snuggled into him. "It doesn't bother me," she said. "At least, not in the way you're inferring. It's not like it makes me question if you love me or if you find me attractive or anything. It's not that at all."

"Then what is it?"

Sarah did a double take at the sadness in his voice. "I just think that sometimes you're afraid of how I'll react," she said. "So you hold back and wait for me to make the first move. I don't know how to get through to you that you don't have to do that."

"Okay," Chuck protested. "But here's the deal. Do you really think I can see you wearing that bikini, or that silk nightshirt that clings to your every curve, or a suit of armor for that matter… and not want to grab you? If I made a move every time I wanted to, we'd be in bed all the time. So I guess that I wait sometimes until you let me know that you're in the mood. So far, I haven't had to wait all that long."

"And I'll admit that attitude frustrates me a little," Sarah said. "You should never worry about letting me know that you're in the mood. We're newlyweds. We've been married for a whole week. We should be on our honeymoon right now. If you want something from me, that would be very exciting. You should let me know so that we can do something about it."

"I know," Chuck said. "Look, it's just that I'm sensitive to not wanting to treat you like an object. I see how men look at you. I get that men have been treating you like that your whole life. You're probably pretty tired of being hit on all the time. You sure don't deserve that from me. So I always want to make sure that you not feel that way."

"You're not listening to me at all," Sarah said sadly. "An object? Hitting on me? Really, Chuck? Where is that even coming from? You're not coming on to me trying to pick me up in a bar. We're married. I've never ever once felt like you were treating me as an object. You're without a doubt the most respectful man I've ever known in that way. You're unbelievably attentive and generous in bed, almost to a fault. For another thing, it's hard to believe that I wouldn't be in the mood, almost no matter what the situation. I've spent the last six months walking around pretty much constantly wanting to rip your clothes off, and now that I can do something about it I find myself in a near perpetual state of arousal. If anything, I've been holding back because I was afraid of over working you. Trust me, sweetie. If you want to pick up the pace, I'm more than eager to fully carry my part of the load. And even if I wasn't, I'd do it anyway. Please help me out here. What is it going to take to get you to believe that?"

"Don't be mad at me," Chuck sighed. "It's just that I don't think you get it. I always want you, every time I look at you, from the first instant that I met you two years ago… until right now. Always. But that just makes me like every other man on the planet. I feel like you deserve more than that from me. I just want to make sure that you know that it's more than just sex."

Sarah sighed again. "I'm not mad at you," she said. "Not yet anyway. Just please look at me and tell me that this isn't one of those stupid 'I'm not the kind of guy people think you should be with' kind of things."

Chuck didn't respond, not really. But he didn't have to. His look said it.

"Okay," Sarah said as she stood up. "Now I'm mad at you. Seriously, Chuck. Fear? We're so far past you being afraid that it's getting ridiculous. This isn't some sort of fling. We're going to be married for the rest of our lives. You want me to say it? Fine. Here is as plainly as I can say it. I'm your wife. It's impossible for you to hit on me. Get that out of your head right now. If you ever want something from me, I'm going to make damn sure that you get it. Period. What more do you want… blazing letters in the sky written in fire? If unexplainably I'm ever not in the mood, I'll make myself get in the mood. And if I can't do that for some bizarre reason, I'll fake it. If that means we're in bed all the time… well, I can sure as hell live with that." Then she paused her rant as she thought for a moment. "Oh my God," she finally said as the epiphany sunk in. "So that's why you're always so attentive in bed. You're afraid of what I'll do if I don't have an e-ticket ride sometime."

"Come on Sarah," Chuck said. "Don't be mad. Where are you going?"

"Arrrrrg!" Sarah shouted to the empty woods in an unintelligible release of frustration. "I can't believe I didn't see that before. I… Chuck, I just can't talk to you about this right now. I'm going to go jump in the water and cool off. I'll be back in a while."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey had to admit, these canoe things were much more fun when you could actually stay inside them. And Misty seemed to know what she was doing much more than Ellie. Of course, that wasn't exactly a tall mountain to climb. Ellie had the canoe upside down and them swimming inside of five minutes.

"I want to go to England with you," Misty said. "I'm going to ask Steven if I can go."

Casey was frankly surprised by that. Where was it even coming from? They hadn't talked about the mission at all since the meeting broke up after it was decided that Casey, Carina, Chuck, and Sarah would depart for England in a few days and that they would travel undercover as two married couples while Devon, Ellie and Mary would come back home. "That's not a good idea," he said. "It will screw up the cover." And why would she want to go anyway? It was a mission.

"Is that why you don't want me to go?" Misty asked. "Because I'll mess up your cover with you and Carina as a married couple?"

"Of course not," Casey said. "At least that's not the only reason. It's dangerous. I want you to stay here where it's safe."

"Come on," Misty sighed. "It would be romantic. Together on a dangerous mission. Don't you think it would be romantic?"

"Romantic?" Casey asked incredulously. "It's a mission. People will get killed. What's romantic about that?"

Casey knew that when she got quiet he had probably said the wrong thing. The problem was… what to do about it? "I'll miss you," he finally said. "But I'll be back in a few days. A mission isn't the time or place to get romantic."

Misty didn't want to make this heavy. After all, they had only been a couple for less than a week. Probably a little too soon to get overly dramatic, so she took her paddle and playfully splashed some water on his back. "I'm not sure that you know what romantic is," she said with a teasing laugh. "What is your idea of romantic?"

"I don't want you to come on a dangerous mission and maybe get hurt," Casey replied. "Doesn't that count as romantic?"

"Not really," Misty said while still laughing. "But it is very sweet. I think I understand the problem now. It's not that you don't want to be romantic, it's that you don't know how."

"Misty," Casey said cautiously. "I've never met anyone like you. I want you to be happy with me. I absolutely do. And if there's anything I can do to make that happen, I'll do it. But I probably can't make myself romantic in the way you're saying. I'm not wired that way."

"I know," Misty said. "I'm not trying to change you. Casey, I like who you are. And I've tried hard to fit in with your world. I've gone to the range shooting with you over and over and sat with you and cleaned guns for hours at a time. You have to admit that."

"Absolutely," Casey said. "You've been so great. I know those things aren't exactly your ideal date."

"I'm not complaining," Misty said quickly. "Please don't take it that way. I had a blast doing those things… because I got to be with you. I love being with you. I think that maybe you just need to try a little too. So I propose a bet."

"A bet?" Casey asked. "What sort of bet?"

Unfortunately Casey couldn't see the wicked gleam in her eye. "We race again like we did the other night," she said. "When I win, I get a night of pure romance. We get dressed up and go to a nice dinner and then dancing. We'll take Ellie along to show you what to do to be romantic and you have to do every single thing that she tells you… all night… not one complaint."

"And what if I win?" Casey asked.

"You think that lust is so powerful," Misty said. "If you win, I'll give you your night of pure, no questions asked, zero consequences, unbridled lust. Whatever you want I'll enthusiastically do, with absolutely nothing off limits for the whole night. I'll promise not to ever hold anything that happens that night against you in any way. I'm pretty sure we won't need Ellie for this one so we'll give her the night off. Do we have a bet?"

"What makes you think you can win?" Casey said with a grin as he turned back to look at her, carefully as to not rock the canoe. "I've already beat you once."

"I don't know," Misty said with her eyes shinning. "For some reason I think I might have a shot this time. Or have you ever thought that maybe I want to lose and I'm just thinking of an excuse to become your toy for a night with no guilt? Sarah's played that card pretty effectively with Chuck. So what do you say?"

"Okay," Casey quickly said. "We have a bet."

"Good," Misty said with a grin. "Let's get one thing straight. If you do happen to win and you're not looking to give Ellie the night off… you're the one who has to talk her into it."

This time Casey almost tipped the canoe over turning to look at her with her cat-ate-the-canary grin. The red was already well into his face. It was unbelievably cute.

Misty just wordlessly turned the canoe back towards the dock and started to paddle in earnest, the grin never leaving her face.

_That was too easy._

x-x-x-x-x

Carina was swimming laps from the dock to the tree swing and back. Not only did the water feel delightful, it was a great way to get her workout in for the day. Of course she knew that something was wrong the instant she saw Sarah swimming next to her. That was a no brainer. For one thing, for Sarah to be not touching Chuck in some way probably meant something was wrong. She figured that they were probably naked on that blanket right about now. But she also knew Sarah well enough to know that it was pointless to ask. If she wanted to talk about it, she would soon bring it up herself. And if she didn't… well no amount of asking, or nagging, or torture for that matter, could get it out her.

Sure enough, they had barely done a lap when Sarah spoke up, well sort of. "Men," she snorted in clear disgust. "I will never understand how they think."

Carina looked at her friend in amusement. _What did she really expect?_ "I get it," she said as they reached the swing and turned around. "All he can think about is trying to get you naked? I wouldn't be too hard on him. Didn't you think that would happen? Poor guy probably isn't used to having such a hot woman so available to him all the time. It's like a fantasy to him. It's only natural that he over do it a little at first. He'll probably eventually settle down."

"It's not that," Sarah snapped. "In fact it's completely the opposite. Chuck always waits until I make the first move. It's almost like he's afraid of me or something. We're married for goodness sake."

Carina grinned. That explained a lot. If quantity was not the issue, it must be quality. "So it must be that his performance is not so good," she said. "That's pretty natural too. What did you expect anyway? Sarah, come on. You need to cut him some slack. This is a fantasy to him. He's not used to having to satisfy a smoking hot flesh and blood woman, especially one as fussy about men as you are. You're going to have to be patient and train him."

"Wrong again," Sarah snapped. "In fact, that's all he does. He's not happy until I'm helplessly moaning. He spends all damn night taking care of me. It's frustrating."

Carina did a double take. She actually stopped swimming and floated there, just treading water in place. "Yeah," she finally said sarcastically. "I can see how it would be. I'm frankly surprised you've lasted this long. That would be a truly miserable existence. Through absolutely no fault of your own, you wake up one day and find yourself married to a nerd. It didn't sound all that bad for a few days. Sure, he might be amazingly cute. It's even okay for a while, but then it all goes south. First you learn the horrible news that he's been hiding from you, the poor bastard absolutely worships you. That's bad enough. Then comes the final kick in the head, you can't get him to stop spending every waking minute attending to your needs in bed. The jerk is never happy until you're lying there moaning helplessly. Who needs that crap? I don't blame you for walking."

Sarah could only tread water next to Carina as her mocking words hit her between the eyes.

"What a fucking nightmare," Carina continued, her voice now dripping with sarcasm. "No way can you let him get away with this crap. You absolutely need to do something about it. Shooting him is probably a bit strong. I'd dump him. Don't worry, I'm sure we can find someone for you who'll insist that you be instantly naked for him whenever he wakes up and wants it… and who'll roll over and go to sleep ten seconds after he's finished even though you're only about halfway home. That's the kind of man that is more your speed. They're a little hard to find but we'll keep looking. Oh, maybe we could hook you up with my mark. That describes him perfectly. You two would be very happy together."

That got a grin, after a minute anyway.

"If you're going to dump him anyway, maybe you wouldn't mind if I went up there and broke the bad news to him?" Carina said with a laugh. "I imagine he's getting pretty lonely all by himself on that blanket. Maybe I could console him a little. I wouldn't mind a little rebound worship action… for a couple of weeks anyway, until it inevitably got tiresome. After all, I'm giving you the guy I'm sleeping with. A trade only seems fair. And I find that I have some needs that could sure use attending to. Tell me, what should I have him do for me first? What does he do best? What my guy does best is ripping my bra in his haste to see my boobs. He's already destroyed two. So, I'd make a quick run to Victoria's Secret and stock up before you hook up with him."

Now Sarah was grinning broadly as she swam over to where Carina was treading water and pushed her head under. She came up sputtering. "What was that for?" she asked in shock.

"That was for calling my husband cute," Sarah said with a laugh. "I thought that I had made myself crystal clear on this point. You're never, ever to think of him as cute." But then she wrapped her arms around Carina's neck and squeezed for all she was worth. Carina was too busy trying to support both of them and keep her head above water to protest, even had she wanted to. "Thank you, sweetie," Sarah whispered. "It's hard to believe that you would be the one giving out relationship advice, but that really helped. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some serious makeup sex to attend to of which I'll undoubtedly have to make the first move. Umm, I'd swim a few more laps if I were you unless you're looking for a show."

Sarah started to swim purposefully toward the dock. "By the way," she called over her shoulder. "Since you asked, he does everything pretty wonderfully. But he has this one thing that he does with his tongue that has me instantly not remembering my own name. Supposedly he picked it up from Morgan. So if we ever get back home, maybe you might want to rethink giving Morgan another shot."

"He might just surprise you."

x-x-x-x-x


	37. The Race

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Race**

x-x-x-x-x

_Swimming is a little like sex. The harder you stroke, the faster you finish. – J. Casey_

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was so wrapped up in figuring out a strategy for how to fix this with Sarah that he actually missed the fact that she was back. Of course she still looked upset. At least her body language appeared that way as she purposely stomped toward him. He instinctively knew that he should say something to try and calm her down. "Sarah," he said softly. "I'm so…"

But Chuck never got a chance to finish his apology. Because much like this morning, he suddenly found himself flat on his back with his blonde bride on top of him and her lips firmly attached to his. Unlike this morning, the ground wasn't nearly as soft as this morning's mattress had been, so it was something of a jolt. She was soaking wet and under normal circumstances he probably would have normally noticed the shock of her cold, wet bikini pressed against his chest. Except for now he was too consumed with what was inside that bikini pressed into his chest… and it may have been wet, but it was anything but cold. Sarah had her hands behind his head and was most definitely putting everything she had into letting him know that she was sorry.

Sarah was clearly relieved when Chuck returned her kiss with such vigor. In fact it was probably as intense as they had ever necked outside of the bedroom. Their tongues danced for a good long while. Sarah quickly made her apology official. "I'm so sorry that I got mad," she said as soon as the series of long kisses broke. "I… look, Chuck, I have this temper. But that was just me being stupid. I'm not mad at you. I love you. You haven't done anything wrong by being respectful. I'm just frustrated with the situation."

"I get that," Chuck said softly was he rolled them over to their sides. "I'm sorry that you're frustrated. And I can understand how you've come to some of the conclusions that you just did. But you're simply wrong about some things. If you would just take a deep breath and give me a chance, I think I can explain it better."

Sarah just nodded.

"You're not entirely wrong," Chuck began cautiously. "I'll freely admit that the first few times we made love I was very conscious of making doubly sure that you had a… what did you call it… oh yeah, an e-ticket ride. I had been waiting for a very, very long time, I wasn't exactly sure what your expectations were going to be, and I wanted to make sure I'd get another chance. In hindsight, I'm more than a little embarrassed by that. In my defense, our immediate future was still very much in doubt at that time and maybe I was trying to make sure that you would have something to fight for. Okay, so maybe I'm not so proud of that line of thinking. I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I guess I'd appreciate some forgiveness."

Sarah just smiled.

"But that hasn't been true pretty much since we've been back from Cancun," he continued. Now it's more… Look, you've been used your whole life, by family, by the greater good, by men. I just want to go the extra mile for you to know that I'm not using you, that I honestly worship you. I think that you deserve to know that. I know that you're an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of chick. So yes, I enjoy it when I can get a reaction out of you in bed. It makes me feel great to know that I've just made you happy in a way that no one else can. I can't tell you how it makes me feel when you give me something that you've never given to anybody before… trust to allow yourself to totally lose control with me. You're allowing me to be with you with absolutely every single wall down. I can hear that the person I love is helplessly moaning in pleasure, that I'm the only person in the whole world who has ever had that experience with her, and best of all, I'm going to get to do it all over again tomorrow. That's so much better than sex to me. Tell me, is that wrong?"

Sarah couldn't quite blink the tears from her eyes. She tried to speak a couple of times but nothing would come out. "I feel about an inch tall," she was finally able to get out. "Of course it's not wrong. It's the sweetest thing I've ever heard from the sweetest guy in the whole world. It makes me feel like such a bitch to get mad at you when you're being so perfect. But Chuck, all I'm trying to get you to see is that it works both ways. Yes, I love that you worship me and that's how you show it. But you also have to let me worship you a little sometimes. I need that same great feeling of knowing I've done something just for you to make you feel great. Don't I deserve that same chance?"

Chuck wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "First, please don't refer to yourself as a bitch," he said softly. "Even in jest. I hate that. It's kind of a hot button word for me. I've known my fair share of bitches. Trust me. You're not even close to being one. And to answer your question, of course you do. If I've been cheating you out of that then I'm very sorry. That was never my intention. I've just never thought of it that way before. This is not an excuse, well maybe it is, but it's probably not a very good one. I spent two full years of having to be close to you every day and being totally in love with you but knowing that I couldn't actually touch you. We were sleeping in the same bed and I was terrified that I would wake up one morning with my hand up your shirt and get a knife stuck in my arm, or even worse you getting freaked out and leaving or getting reassigned. So I sort of conditioned myself to stay away. I built a fence in my mind. I told myself that if you ever were going to allow us to happen, you'd let me know by making the first move."

Sarah smiled, and nodded. "I know that you did," she said. "And that's the only way we could have gotten through those times. I appreciate the respect you always showed to my position more than I could ever tell you."

"Don't thank me," he said. "I got frustrated and tried to push you into something that just wasn't possible. Then I gave up a couple of times and went after other girls."

"I know you were frustrated," she whispered. "So was I. And you're right. There have been a couple of dozen times over the past two years where I was silently begging you to make a move. If you hadn't been so respectful of our situation, we'd have surely ended up making love. Then I would have had to do something drastic afterwards to deal with it. Thank God those days are over. We're together now."

Chuck nodded. "Please don't get mad at me," he said. "But I just have to ask this. You said that if you couldn't get yourself in the mood that you would fake it. Have you ever…"

Sarah did a double take at the hurt in his voice as it trailed off. That was such a stupid thing to say. It played right into his deepest fears. Agent Walker had faked it before with men, lots of times. She knew that this was something that she had to fix… right away. "I'm sorry that I said it like that," she said as she reached over to kiss him. "But you misunderstood what I was saying. What I meant was that you don't have to ever worry about telling me that you want something. I'm going to make sure that you get it. The only thing I've ever faked with you is when I was pretending not to be in love with you. I faked that for two years. It really sucked. So no, Chuck, I've never faked anything with you."

"Please don't ever fake anything," Chuck said softly. "I don't want that. If you're not up to it sometime, it's okay to say so. I'll understand. There's always tomorrow."

Sarah smiled. "This discussion is so moot," she said. "I can't imagine you ever grabbing me and me not being instantly in the mood. I didn't want to come down here to the lake today because I wanted to stay in the room and practice ripping your clothes off. But if it's important to you, I promise that I'll never fake anything in bed with you."

"Thank you," Chuck said with a nod. "That does help. But there's one more thing I need to say to you. And I know this part makes you a little crazy so bear with me, but yes, you're one of the most beautiful women in the world. You just are. I know with my head that it's stupid to allow that to bother me, even worse it's frustrating you. You've never once acted like you're too good for me, even before we were together. But you're so beautiful that it's honestly a little intimidating. In my world when a guy like me makes a pass at a girl like you, the very best that can happen is that he gets laughed at. I'm sorry about those thoughts. I know that's not how you feel in any way. But I guess I'm still in that mode of waiting for you, and honestly I've haven't had to wait all that long lately anyway. After two years of putting you on a pedestal, now you're expecting me to order you to perform acts for my amusement just because I might have won a bet, and one that you were clearly trying hard to lose at that. When I say that I worship you, that's not hyperbole. You're so amazing. I find something new every single day that makes you even more amazing. So I'm sorry if treating you like an object simply doesn't come naturally to me. Even when it's only pretend, it makes me feel like a pig."

"I understand," Sarah said with a sigh. "That's so sweet. And I don't want you to change. But here is something that I'd like you to consider. I'm comfortable asking you for anything. Because I know that you would kill yourself trying to give it to me. Sweetie, I want you to be just as comfortable. And it hurts me a little when you're not, because you should be. The truth is that you're telling me that you're intimidated about asking me for something and you're worried that I might be faking with you. If that's true I must be doing something wrong. I have some serious work to do if you don't understand that I would kill myself trying to give you anything you asked for just as much as you would. It means that I'm not good at being a wife. And I hate feeling that way. So maybe that's something we could work on together, just like I'm working on talking more about my feelings. Sometimes I have to force myself. But I do because I know that you deserve it. And it's honestly getting a little easier. Maybe I can get that same thing from you. I'll try hard to be as patient with you as you have with me."

"Wow," Chuck said softly. "Now I'm the one who feels an inch tall. Sarah, if I'm making you feel anything except perfect, then I've got some changes to make. Just promise me one thing. If it ever gets to be too much, if you ever feel that I'm treating you disrespectfully, please tell me."

"Okay," Sarah said with a silly grin. "I promise. I also promise that if your flapping your arms and flying around the room gets annoying, I'll tell you. That sounds just about as likely."

That finally got the laugh she was looking for. "Deal," he said. "I'll work on it, I promise. In fact if we were home, I'd start working on it right now."

Suddenly the twinkle was back in Sarah's eyes. "Why do we have to be home?" she asked slyly. "This blanket is pretty comfortable."

Chuck just looked around nervously. "Here?" he asked. "Sarah, please. Don't make me do this here. Carina is right over there. She could walk up any second."

"I don't know," Sarah said with a fake pout. "You promise me that you'll work on being more aggressive and yet the first chance you get, you chicken out."

Chuck looked at her nervously. "Okay," he finally said as he reached over and kissed her. "If that's what you need. Can we please hurry?"

"Chuck, I'm just teasing you," Sarah said with a laugh. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with. I just want you to understand that no matter what you want or where you want it, it's going to happen. I'll find a way to make it happen. For one thing, Carina wouldn't bat an eye. She'd probably take some notes and write us up a report later giving us pointers on how to maximize our enjoyment. But we can take baby steps if that makes you more comfortable. Let's compromise. As soon as we get home, you take the lead and collect your bet winnings with zero guilt. The more wild you get, the more you'll prove to me that you're trying. The next few hours are going to be all about you, deal?"

"Okay," Chuck said reluctantly. "I'll act like a pig if that's what you really want. But then I get to spend some time taking care of you."

"You have a deal," Sarah said with an even bigger laugh as she stood up. "I'm afraid that you might be misunderstanding me a little. When did I ever say that I wanted you to stop doing that?" Then she got a little serious. "Look, I understand that in some ways we're pretty different. Maybe that's one of the reasons we're so in love with each other. The CIA Academy has pretty much taken away any modesty that I might have once had. I know that you're not totally comfortable with that stuff outside the bedroom. I'll try hard to remember that and respect your boundaries. But I'm not going to feel right until I fully apologize for my stupid outburst earlier. And actually there is something that I owe you anyway."

Chuck could only look in wonder as her bikini top hit him in the chest. Quickly the bottom joined it lying on his chest.

"There," she said with a grin with her hands on her hips. "Now you're officially the first person to see me take it off. I know that we're not in the bedroom, but please don't try and deny that you enjoyed it. The other thing about the CIA Academy is that I'm trained to notice these things. I can see from here that you did."

Sarah just stood there wearing nothing but her huge grin and posed for a long moment watching her incredibly cute husband turn redder by the second. "By the way, just for future reference, where does this fit in with your girls-like-me-laugh-at-guys-like-you theory?"

The question was clearly rhetorical because she didn't wait for an answer. "Now technically this doesn't count as you being aggressive because I'm the one doing the asking," she continued. "I understand that we're out in the open. But I'd honesty be quite impressed if you would just lie back and enjoy watching me apologize properly. Or do you want to wait for later in private?"

Unfortunately Chuck didn't really get a chance to choose because Carina was approaching. She was purposely making a lot of noise to let Sarah know that she was coming. If it had been anybody but Carina, Sarah would have quickly gotten dressed. But it wasn't until she saw the horror in Chuck's eyes that she grabbed her suit from where it was still resting on his chest and started to put it back on. She was still tying the top when Carina got to them.

"Damn," she said sarcastically as soon as she got to their spot. "You're still dressed."

"What's up?" Sarah asked with a grin.

Carina took a quick look at Chuck's red face as he was lying on the blanket totally unsuccessfully trying to act cool. But the red face wasn't the only tell. "I can see that something is clearly up," she teased with her own grin. "If Chuck can walk, you guys should come down to the lake."

"Casey and Misty are going to race."

x-x-x-x-x

Well, the first thing that Chuck did when they got down to the lake was to dive in the water, for umm, rather obvious reasons. Misty was casually swimming laps in pretty much the same way that Carina had been earlier. She wasn't swimming hard at all, clearly just warming up for the main event. When she was comfortable that she was suitably warmed up, she walked out of the water where Casey was still bone dry.

"Don't you think you should stretch or something?" Misty asked in concern. "That's a long swim. I'd hate for you to pull a muscle… or something. But even if you do, a bet's a bet. You're not getting out of it by faking an injury."

"Don't you worry your pretty head over my muscles," Casey said with a laugh. "I've already won this race with you once pretty comfortably."

"What did you bet?" Carina asked. If she was feinting innocence, she was doing a good job.

Actually Sarah had wished that Carina hadn't asked. For one thing she was pretty certain that she didn't want to know. For another, she was sort of anxious to get this race started, or at least Misty back into the water. Like she feared, that orange t-shirt may as well have been orange colored cellophane once it got wet. The redness that was well into Chuck's face clearly said that he had taken at least a small peak. It was hard to fault him for that. Misty was an amazingly beautiful woman.

Misty waited for Casey to answer. But when it was plain that he wasn't going to, she grinned. "When I win, I get a night of pure romance. Casey is going to take me out for a nice evening. Ellie is going to tell him all night what to do to be romantic, and he's not going to complain or grunt once."

"And what if Casey wins?" Chuck asked.

"Well," Misty said as her grin turned a tad bashful. "Then Casey gets a night of… umm, his choosing."

Naturally, Carina couldn't let that hanging curve ball go by without taking a mighty swing, even if she had no clue what a hanging curveball actually was. "In that case, I imagine he might get in a grunt or two," she said.

It was hard to tell who was reddest, Casey or Misty, but they were both eager to get this started so they got into the water. Carina joined then to act as the starter.

As soon as they were off, Sarah laughed. "Casey being forced to be romantic," she said. "I can't wait to see that."

"Too bad it's not going to happen," Chuck said wistfully. "I've been swimming with Casey. No way Misty can stay with him."

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Sarah said cautiously. "I think she has a chance."

"No way."

"Umm," Sarah said with something of her own grin. "Our usual bet?"

"Deal," Chuck quickly answered with a smile. Then he lowered his voice so only she could hear. "You know, Sarah, you don't have to keep losing these bets with me. I get it. Be careful what you wish for. I'm going to disgust you tonight with how big of a pig I can be. You're going to be proud of me, after you get done being nauseous."

"That's nice," Sarah said with a laugh. "Bring everything that you've got. I'm looking forward to it. But haven't you looked up Misty's file?"

Chuck just shook his head in confusion.

"You should have," Sarah said as she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling over from laughing. "Misty swam for Iowa State. She still holds some records there. She was the very last cut from the Olympic team. There is no way for Casey to beat her unless she wanted him to."

Chuck looked up… and was stunned by what he saw. Misty had already opened up a twenty yard lead and was clearly just starting to hit her top speed. She looked like an arrow effortlessly gliding through the water. "Wow," Chuck said as soon as he could pick his jaw up off the dock. "She hustled him."

"She sure did," Sarah said. "Just like I just played you." Then she playfully tackled him off the side of the dock.

When they popped up out of the water, Chuck could barely touch bottom. It was over Sarah's head so she put her arms around his neck. Not one to pass up such an opportunity, she quickly pressed her lips to his. Normally, Chuck would have resisted such an intimate make out session in front of Carina. Not that he had much choice in this case. His deceptively strong blonde goddess had both hands wrapped around his head. The truth was he couldn't have gotten free had his life depended on it. But maybe their earlier talk had some impact. Maybe it was that she looked so incredibly cute with the water dripping off her face. Or maybe it was that their tongues dancing felt so darned natural. The fact that Sarah had taken one hand away from the death grip around his neck and had slid it inside his swimming trunks might have even been a very slight factor. At least that was under the water and out of sight. But whatever the reason, he was giving just as much as she was.

Okay, so maybe Carina wasn't very surprised by Sarah, she was clearly out of control and had been all week. But she had never seen anything like this from Chuck. He was usually so bashful. And normally she would have stood there and enjoyed herself by making fun of them. But given the pep talk she had just given Sarah, there was no telling where this was quickly going. So she started to swim a lap, just to be out of the way in case they wanted to move this to the dock… or back to the blanket.

Sarah was pretty stunned herself. She hadn't expected anything like this from him, especially with Carina standing there gawking at them. All she was thinking was a quick kiss or two. But when she felt his mouth open and his tongue seek out hers, well she never was one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She wasn't sure which felt better, his tongue skillfully playing with hers… or the fact that he was clearly putting his fears aside just because she needed him too. Maybe it was a tie, but whatever the reason she was quickly on fire. "Ten more seconds of that," she whispered in his ear between kisses, "and we're going to need to go back to the blanket and put this fire out. Maybe you can pay off your bet."

Chuck simply grinned at her. "Hey," he said. "You're standing in a lake. I guess some fires are pretty hard to put out. Besides, you haven't even won yet."

"Okay," Sarah sighed as she reluctantly broke the embrace. "I guess we can wait until we're home.'

"It looks like I'm not going to be the only one disgusted tonight."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty was back to the dock at least a full minute before Casey. Carina and Sarah quickly jumped into the water to greet her, apparently overcome with joy at the huge milestone for their gender, akin to winning the right to vote, that Misty's victory clearly represented. They acted like a baseball team after the final out of the World Series as they tackled her and vigorously celebrated as they romped playfully in the shallow water.

Chuck might have actually enjoyed the view under other circumstances. After all, Misty's t-shirt was still invisible, and both Sarah and Carina's bikinis were moving around an awful lot. Neither spy seemed overly bashful about hiding their assets from, well, the asset. In fact Carina was almost certainly intentionally flashing him. But he was currently too bummed over being so overtly played to pay attention… well, much anyway.

It wasn't losing a bet that stung. Truth be told, he was looking forward to paying off more than he was about collecting his own winnings. It was more that she had played him with inside information. He wasn't angry… at all. It was well played on her part. In fact he was very proud of her. He just knew that he had to get even somehow.

And poor Casey was completely exhausted. He had put so much energy into trying in vain to keep up with her that he could barely pull himself up onto the dock. All he could do was to sit there helplessly and watch the celebration while trying to catch his breath.

Chuck actually felt sorry for him, well, a little anyway. Although he honestly wasn't sure what he was most sorry for, Casey, his bruised gender, or himself. They were all in there somewhere. So he went and sat next to him on the dock, in a silent show of fraternal solidarity or something.

Misty noticed him sitting there so forlornly and broke herself away from the celebration. She sat on the other side of Casey and put her head gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay," she asked. "You look tired."

Casey didn't have the breath yet for a long conversation. "How did you get so fast?" was all he could get out.

"Umm, yeah," Misty said as she started laughing. "I may have forgotten to mention that I swam in college. I may still hold some records at Iowa State. I got invited to tryout for the Olympic team."

"But I beat you easily last time," Casey protested.

"I know," Misty said. "You were really nervous. I wanted you to win so you wouldn't feel guilty about… well, you know."

"You played me?" Casey asked.

"Maybe a little," Misty said as she continued laughing. "Are you mad at me?"

Casey just shook his head.

"Good," Misty said. "Now give me a kiss to prove it."

Okay, so Casey wasn't normally any bigger fan of PDA than Chuck. But he was currently too tired to put up any protest. "I'll get even," he panted as he leaned in for a very quick kiss, just enough to show that there were no hard feelings. Frankly that's all he had the breath for.

Misty was clearly relieved that he was taking this well. So now she was ready to rejoin the victory party in earnest. "Take you best shot," she said playfully with a huge grin as she danced off for her celebratory beer that Carina was holding up in the air for her. "Maybe it's actually better that you didn't win," she called over her shoulder. "You don't seem to be in any shape to umm… collect your winnings anyway."

"She hustled me," Casey growled, more to himself than Chuck as he watched her chug her victory beer. He was just starting to catch his breath.

"As it turns out, Misty almost made the Olympic team," Chuck said. "If it makes you feel any better, I got played at the same time."

"It doesn't make me feel better," Casey growled. "Not even a little bit."

"Okay," Chuck said. "Fair enough. But there's an old saying – He who laughs last, laughs best."

Casey looked at Chuck quizzingly. "What is going on in that pea-brain of yours?" he asked.

Chuck just grinned. "She's planning on using Ellie to help her collect her winnings by instructing you what to do, right?"

Casey nodded sadly. "This is a nightmare," he said. "That's actually the worst part. Ellie will have a blast putting me through the wringer. I can only imagine what she'll have me doing."

"Not so fast," Chuck said. "Maybe we should examine this situation we find ourselves in a little more closely. Ellie is my sister. And I might have a card or two left to play here. I'm pretty sure I can make her see reason. There might just be a story or perhaps an unfortunate rumor that she wouldn't necessarily be wild about leaking out."

Casey's head picked up. "You mean…"

"Exactly," Chuck said with a grin. "What if it turned out that Misty and Sarah didn't exactly like Ellie's instructions so much?"

"Okay," Casey said. "Why would you do that? You might get cut off."

"Not very likely," Chuck said with a short laugh. "Have you seen her lately? And I suddenly find myself with a dog in this hunt. I'm going to go get us a beer before Carina and Misty chug them all. As soon as I get back, I'll tell you the plan. But one thing's for sure…"

"Payback is a bitch."

x-x-x-x-x


	38. Slutty Ellie

_Content warning: For all of you who skipped it the first time, let's see if you read it this time. Last time the scene was a daydream. This time it's real. Of course, having said that, you do realize that this is a fictional story? It really isn't real. But I think you get the idea, lol._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Slutty Ellie**

x-x-x-x-x

_Ladies who play with fire must remember that smoke gets in their eyes. – Mae West_

x-x-x-x-x

"Dude," Ted Roark said in dismissive disbelief as he sat his beer back on the table. They had moved their conversation from the limo to his office. At least up here it wasn't two hundred fucking degrees. "You're doing all of this… for a shot at a woman? Seriously?" But actually that did explain some things… like what Daniel Shaw had been doing in the dark in that unbelievably hot car. Then again, there were some things you were just better off not knowing. "Did she dump you or something? Man, sometimes you just have to move on. You're a good enough looking guy. Why don't you take off that tie, loosen up a little, and we'll go out and see if we can get you laid."

Shaw sat and thought about all the different ways that he hated Ted Roark. First, he had already been called 'dude' many more times than he could stomach. There was also probably no way to insult Shaw more if you tried than to suggest that he needed anybody's help in a romantic capacity, but that was especially biting coming from Ted Roark. Being one of the richest men in the world might be able to buy you a lot of things. Sure he probably had his choice of lots of woman. But he had never run across one like Sarah Walker before. Money couldn't buy her. It took something else. Besides, Daniel was secure in the knowledge that he was able to do it the old fashioned way, with his unbeatable combination of charm and stunning good looks. There was absolutely no question that even Walker would eventually come around and confess her love. It was statistical certainty. They all fell for him eventually, once he was able to explain things thoroughly to them. "My reasons are my own," he said firmly. "I'm willing to share all the Intel that we have. All I'm asking out of this is that I get Walker once we capture them… no questions asked."

Roark looked at him for a long moment. He knew that he couldn't trust Shaw as far as he could throw him. That was fair. Shaw clearly didn't trust him either. But there might be some mutual benefit that could be gained from forming a loose partnership. There was no harm in playing along, at least not at the moment. He didn't have any particular use for Walker anyway. In fact, from what he had heard about her, she was a huge potential problem, a regular blonde pain in the ass. A quick bullet between those legendary blue eyes seemed like the obvious solution. But if Shaw was this obsessed with getting her naked and was willing to give up the missing pieces of Intel that could lead them to the intersect… well he could have his fun. "Deal," he finally said. "If you would go brief our intelligence folks, I think we can accommodate each other."

As soon as Shaw left the room Roark's number two man turned to him. "You were right," he said with a grin. "He was hard to find, but keeping track of Agent Barker paid off. Our guy in England just reported that he just got a visit from Bartowski's sister."

Ted Roark was never one to be modest. "I knew it," he said. "Didn't I tell you? I'm sort of getting tired of being right all the time. You might want to try it sometime."

"Bub wants to know what he should do," the man said, as usual ignoring the shot. "Should he attempt to capture her?"

Roark suddenly realized why Ellie Bartowski was in England. Shaw's news of the impending coup actually made a bit of sense now. Bartowski and Walker had figured out somehow what the plot was and they were going to try and rescue the President. And if they were successful, the Ring would be defeated. That meant one of his main threats would be suddenly gone. And if the good Dr. Bartowski was going to report to her brother any time soon… Complete victory might just be at hand. Fulcrum with an intersect and no Ring to fight would become an instant world power. "No," he said thoughtfully. "She isn't there on a sightseeing trip. Let's keep tabs on her. She might just lead us to the real prize."

"Yes, sir," the man said. Then he indicated the door that Shaw had just exited. "Should we tell him?"

"Hell no," Roark said with a laugh as he picked up his beer. "Didn't you listen to him? That dude's totally crazy." Perhaps he had underestimated this Sarah Walker. Unfortunately the only way to thank her for doing all his dirty work for him would be to shoot her in the head instead of handing her over to that Shaw lunatic.

Oh well, she was better off.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie and Devon were alone in their hotel room. Mary had gone with Cole to scout out some mission locations, but not before she gave both of them a stern lecture about not, for any reason short of the hotel catching on fire, leaving the room.

Ellie knew damn well that Mom didn't have to go with Cole to scout out any stupid mission locations. That was pure extra-virgin unadulterated crap. She thought about it for a long time. There were really only two possible reasons she could come up with why Mom would go off with Cole and leave them unguarded. Ellie decided that she would give Mom the benefit of the doubt and go with reason #1, getting out of the room to allow her to talk to Devon about tonight's mission privately. After all, reason #2 was a tad more… well, extra-virgin unadulterated creepy.

And one good thing, as long as Mom was giving them this chance, she might as well take advantage, right? After all, Devon was being uncharacteristically quiet. To his credit, he didn't immediately object when Cole and Mom described what they wanted Ellie to do tonight. But something was clearly bothering him. So she turned to him. "Are you sure that you're okay with this?" she asked softly. "We need to help Cole end his assignment so that he'll be free to help us."

That got a double take from Devon. "Define okay," he finally said with a smile. "I'm not jealous if that's what you're asking. I understand that you're not going to actually be screwing anybody. You're just going to get him alone and away from his bodyguards. You'll be playing a role. And I know that this is important. I get that. I'm just a little worried about you being safe."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Ellie said. "My mom is going to be watching the whole thing." She decided to leave off the part that Cole would be watching as well… well, for obvious reasons.

Devon however didn't let that slide. "Your mom won't be the only one watching," he said sadly. "I'm assuming that Cole wouldn't let anything bad happen just as much as your mom." Then he realized that sounded too much like an accusation, so he tried to soften it. "Besides, we both know that your mom would love to shoot someone in front of Cole… just to impress him."

That got a groan. "I know," Ellie said. "What is up with her?"

"It seems that Cole gets her motor running," Devon replied. "I'm pretty sure that she's not the only one."

That got an even bigger groan. "Devon," Ellie sighed sadly. "Haven't we been all over this? Nothing is ever going to happen between me and Cole. Can't we get past this? Why does this bother you so much?"

"The honest truth?" Devon asked expectantly.

Ellie nodded.

"Because you're so obviously attracted to the guy and you won't admit it," Devon said with a deep sigh. "It makes me wonder why you don't trust me enough to tell me the truth. What else is there that you don't trust me enough to tell me?"

Ellie just stood there for a long time and stared at him. "Okay," she finally said. "But it's not a lack of trust. You're wrong about that. I never wanted to rub your face in this. You want the total truth? Yes, I think that Cole is a very sexy man. I can't really describe it any better than that. If I was single and he bought me a drink in a bar, the evening might go very well for him. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Devon actually smiled. "Actually, I'm not totally sure why, but it kinda is."

"Okay," Ellie said. "But, sweetie, look at me. I'm not single. I would never, ever allow anything to happen between us. Is this really so bad? Devon, aren't there women that get your motor running? Misty? Carina? Sarah? Now it's your turn to tell me the truth. If you were single and that Joan slut from Radiology with the fake boobs came up to you in a bar, wouldn't she have a chance? Why does this bother you so much?"

"Of course," Devon quickly admitted. "Well, Carina sort of scares me. But I'll freely admit that the other three are incredibly beautiful. But I would never allow anything to happen. And, Ellie, I'm not saying that you would either. I don't believe that you would. I just wanted you to admit that you have an attraction. Now that you have, it makes me feel a lot better."

"Thank you," Ellie sighed with a twinkle in her eyes. "Actually if that makes you feel better maybe I should tell you about the dream I had about John two nights ago. That would really make you feel better."

That got them laughing. "Now you're just getting gross," Devon said. "And only for the record, I'm not all that sure that Joan's boobs are fake." Then he decided it was time to change the subject. "So, how much money are you going to ask this guy for tonight anyway?"

Ellie considered the question for a moment. "I don't know," she said. "I guess I've never thought about it. Five hundred dollars?"

"For one thing," Devon said with a laugh. "You're in London. If you ask for dollars you'll tip him off. Five hundred pounds, that sounds a little high. What are you going to do to be worth that?"

Ellie got that look in her eye that Devon knew so well. She stepped up and kissed him. "Maybe I need your help," she said with a grin. "You can be my quality control person. Maybe you should be the judge of how much it's worth."

"Now see," Devon said between kisses. "I really can't afford five hundred pounds."

"Come on," Ellie scoffed as she fumbled with his belt. "Big rich doctor like you? I heard that you paid a thousand in Vegas just a week ago… and didn't even seal the deal."

"Here's the thing," Devon said. "That was something of a special circumstance. And for the record, I got a full refund in Vegas. My fiancé is sort of… well, frugal. She might not mind the five hundred pounds so much at first. She wouldn't know what that meant. But once she finds out that it's over seven hundred and fifty dollars, it's going to totally hit the fan. Trust me on this one. It wouldn't be pretty."

"Well," Ellie said as she unsnapped his pants and allowed them to hit the floor. "This fiancé of yours actually sounds very sensible. That's a lot of money for what you'd have to admit, could only be classified as a recreational expenditure." Then she pushed him gently in the chest until he was sitting on the bed.

"Maybe we'll have to tell her about the employee discount."

x-x-x-x-x

It had been pretty much the perfect day for one Sarah Walker-Bartowski. First it started off with this morning's romantic session between the sheets with Chuck. Okay, so a lot of it didn't literally take place between any sheets, but you get the idea.

That was followed up with the news that both Carina and Ellie's missions were both on track. It was looking like their suicide mission to defeat the Ring might actually have a legitimate shot as long as could evade capture for another couple of days. Not only that, she would soon be traveling with Chuck to London. It would be the first time going with him to Europe. And it was a mission not a vacation, but maybe they could still sneak away for a few hours and see the Eiffel Tower. That had always been a dream of his.

Not only that, Chuck would get to see his good friend Cole again. That would be good for him. They had developed this unlikely friendship thing that at first seemed, well, unlikely. But it made Sarah feel great that Chuck had made an honest spy friend. Sure, Casey had dropped the gruff act pretty much for the week or so since they had rescued Chuck. It was pretty hard to keep up that pretence at being aloof when you had just thrown your career away, and maybe your life, for someone. But it still would be good for Chuck to see Cole again. For one thing, it put that jealousy thing to rest. Chuck was now comfortable that nothing had ever happened between her and Cole. That was very, very good. And anything that was good for Chuck was okay in her book.

Then there was the amazing afternoon at the lake. It had been beyond fabulous. And yes, she had a stupid fight with Chuck. Sarah had to shake her head at how mind numbingly stupid it actually was. Her famous temper allowed her to get mad at him for being… perfect. But fortunately all that Sarah could mainly think of was the making up part on the blanket. And even that faded as she remembered the pure fun of celebrating Misty's victory. One thing about the life of a spy, there weren't many times to just have innocent fun. So she was determined to make the most of it.

And yes, this next part was a little shallow, but she was proud that she had made dinner all by herself for the very first time. Well, Chuck helped her peel the potatoes but Misty was upstairs busy making sure that she hadn't done any real damage to her budding relationship this afternoon. Little did she realize that she couldn't have possibly done much more to make Casey fall for her than to pull a successful con on him. On second thought, whatever she was doing up in the room before dinner probably didn't hurt matters either. He seemed in a pretty good mood all through the meal, a little sore perhaps. Anyway, dinner was just burgers and fries, not exactly a shinning culinary accomplishment, but everybody praised the meal like it had been flown in from a master chef from the south of France.

But now dinner was over and the last dish had just been put away. Misty and Casey were excused to go back to their room and finish… well that's as far as Sarah wanted to think about that. Carina was off back to the city to spend some time with her mark to cement his cooperation in London. After all, that was a key part of the plan. And even though Carina hadn't said much, Sarah knew pretty much how tonight was going to go and she wasn't all that eager to think overly long about those details either.

Steven even made a big show of hugging Carina in front of the team and thanking her for doing the dirty work. The hug had her actually blushing, which was an incredibly rare occurrence on its own. But when he tenderly kissed her forehead, it brought genuine tears. Sarah was more or less stunned. She could have used one hand and still have several fingers left over to count the number of times she had seen Carina blinking away real tears. It almost made her wonder if something else was bothering Carina. But it was well done. Whether Steven realized it or not, he couldn't have possibly done anything better for her had he tried. If he didn't already have it, he had just earned Carina's undying loyalty for… well, basically forever. But now Steven was off doing, well whatever it was that Steven did. So that left the newlyweds to clean up, not that they minded.

Sarah was frankly surprised how effective a team she and Chuck made as they quickly cleared the table and did the dishes. It was truly one of those married couple moments that sort of snuck up on her. She didn't even realize until they were almost done how perfectly normal it was for a husband and wife to work together to prepare a meal and clean up after. But it was one of those silly, mundane things that was actually a first for them. Hopefully it was something that would be repeated thousands of times over the next sixty or so years. Chuck was so damn cute making it seem like a game that it really made Sarah yearn for all this drama to finally be over somehow so that they could find that house with the picket fence… and her very own kitchen. She had sometimes felt the pangs of wanting a normal life, but tonight it was downright overwhelming.

She had almost forgotten about this afternoon's discussion. Well, that wasn't completely true. But she wasn't expecting Chuck to act so quickly either, because as soon as the bedroom door closed he grabbed her and spun her around to face him. He clearly wasn't making any effort to hide the smirk. "So, Mrs. Bartowski," he said. "I saw you bending over in front of me showing me the outline of your tight jeans while pretending to put away dishes. Are you ready to pay off your bet?"

Sarah honestly didn't remember purposefully bending over to excite him. In fact she mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it. So she was fairly stunned and, not surprisingly, so instantly excited that all she could was nod.

But Chuck wasn't having any of it. This is what she wanted. Well be careful what you ask for. "Sir?" he prodded gently with an even bigger smirk. "I believe that I need to hear you say that out loud."

Chuck could see her fighting to keep the smile from her face. He was really going to make an effort. "Yes, sir," she finally said. "I'm ready. What do you want me to do?"

"Excellent," he said. "That red negligee that you wore on our wedding night, I assume that you still have it?"

Sarah's heart soared when he mentioned that negligee. She knew how very much he liked it. She was originally planning on saving its next appearance for Valentines Day. But this was perfect. She'd figure something else out for Valentines Day. "Yes, sir," she said softly.

Chuck just smiled. The question was rhetorical. Of course she still had it. She was clearly keeping it packed away for a rainy day. And Chuck could see the storm clouds gathering from here. "Good," he said. "Show it to me."

She didn't respond, she just walked over to her bag, fished it out, and held it up against her body.

Chuck's smug smile grew as he watched her standing there fighting to keep up the illusion of being serious, holding that sexy negligee for his approval. It was in stark contrast to the rather plain cutoff jeans and t-shirt she was currently wearing. This might be a little fun. "You can change in there," he said as he indicated the bathroom with his hand. "Quickly."

To say that Sarah was already aroused was something of a silly understatement. So she stepped into the bathroom and pealed off her clothes as quickly as she could. The negligee actually came with a matching set of red bra and panties. But they were quickly thrown back into the bag. If he wanted a show, he was going to get a good one. As soon as she threw on the negligee, she took a brief moment to take down her hair and quickly run a brush through it.

Chuck was somewhat surprised that she was able to change that quickly. But he had to admit, the sight of his amazingly beautiful wife as she stepped out of the bathroom in that red negligee almost made him forget his mission. It was actually hard to describe. It was a well designed article of clothing. It really wasn't invisible, not totally, at least in the strategic spots anyway. But it also didn't hide anything. The way that it clung to her soft curves made it pretty easily the sexiest sight of Chuck's life. She had also clearly totally gotten into her role. The fact that she was now wearing heels without it even being requested and had taken her hair down from being tied up so that it now hung softly over her shoulders very plainly told him that. She was making herself look as attractive as possible for him. Mission certainly accomplished there. She was breath taking.

Sarah could tell that Chuck was reluctant to say anything. He clearly knew that if he spoke, he would start laughing and break the mood. So he just waived for her to come stand before him where he was sitting on the bed. And actually, she knew just as well that if she spoke, she would also spoil the mood. So she just silently complied with his request. In fact, she intentionally came to stand so close that her legs were touching the outside of his so that she was forced to stand rather provocatively. It certainly didn't take any agent training to tell how aroused he was. It was written all over his face… and umm, other parts of his body. So she stood there silently in her high heels and that incredibly sexy negligee with her arms at her side as she obediently posed for him and waited for what she knew he would ask for next.

Chuck would have loved nothing more than to just pull her onto the bed and begin kissing her. But he had something to prove. If wild is what she wanted, he needed to try a little here. He just sat for a long moment as he calmed his own breathing and watched her standing there with the twinkle in her eyes wondering what he was going to ask for next. He took his time and overtly checked out his wife from head to toe, and back again as he softly rubbed the inside of her leg. He gradually allowed his hand to drift ever higher until it finally disappeared under the hem of her garment. He knew full well that this teasing was driving her crazy. That much was plain from the way she was biting her lip. She also clearly understood that he was teasing her because she quickly shifted her hips a little to give his hand a better angle, silently daring him to go father. So he stopped just before reaching the point of no return. Hmm… she wanted a pig, but how far should he push her? "I expect my instructions to be verbally acknowledged," he finally said. "Understood?"

Okay, so he was teasing her. That much was clear. That didn't bother her. It was that it was so damn effective that bothered her. Maybe it was time to let him know that she was ready to let him off the hook a little. But it would be unsporting to break character. This is what she had asked for. "Yes, sir," she replied as she finally met his eye and bit her lip nervously. "I understand. Look, I agree that you're in control here. You won the bet. I'll do whatever you ask. But I just want to go on record that I'm on fire. Could we please move a little faster?"

Chuck grinned as he recognized her state of arousal, not that she was making any attempt to hide it. Fair enough, he was also having a hard time controlling his own excitement. This was actually going okay so far. Naturally she was making every effort to defer to him. He was somewhat lucky that he was sitting. It would have been… umm, hard to stand at this particular moment. "You should be aware," he said. "That you've challenged me here. You want to be treated like an object? Why don't we begin that process with a little entertainment? Let's start by seeing how slowly you can lift that garment over your head and toss it to the floor. Then we'll begin our evening's activities."

Sarah was actually torn. She desperately wanted to jump on him and get this party started. But what could she do? This is what she had asked for. So as long as she had to wait, well two could play this teasing game. "Yes, sir," she said as she reached down for the hem of her negligee and started to, oh so slowly, lift it, pausing for an extra long moment when it reached her chest. When she finally had pulled it over her head and was holding it in her hand, she hesitated for a brief moment shyly holding it in front of her chest with a bashful look on her face before finally allowing it to fall softly to the floor. Then she took a moment to pat her hair back in place before returning her arms to her side again allowing him full access to view her now completely bare form. _How does it feel to be teased?_

Well, that much was settled. The only question left was how far to go. As Chuck contemplated his multitude of options, he reached up and pulled her down into his lap. The look on her face plainly said that she could feel for herself that he was just as excited she was. She wrapped her arms around his neck and urgently pressed her lips to his. He quickly broke the kiss and pulled back. "Really, Mrs. Bartowski?" he asked in mock offense. "You want me to be aggressive and yet you don't give me a chance?"

He was right, of course. This was his time. "I'm sorry," she said softly. Then she paused for a long moment. "This is… look, this is just a lot harder than I thought it would be. We've only been married for a few days. I'm used to being the aggressive one… and I'm on fire." Then she saw the smile in his eyes and quickly retreated. "I'm sorry. I know that's not your problem. This is what I asked for. I'll do better."

To her credit, Sarah waited, a tad impatiently perhaps, for Chuck to begin the next kiss, even when he teased her with a false start or two. She even waited for him to open his mouth before she did. But then all bets were off as she made their tongues hungrily dance. "Be careful what you wish for," he said with a smile. "If you're looking for a pig I'm going to do my best." Then to further prove his point he slowly and conspicuously reached around and placed his hand on her newly bare but always perfect left breast. "Is this what you wanted?"

"Yes, sir," she finally sighed. "It is. Please give me another chance." She then turned to give his hand a better angle and waited for the next kiss, placing her hands behind his head once he had pressed his mouth to hers.

Chuck smiled as he enjoyed the second base necking action for a long moment until he broke the kiss again. "That was much better," he said condescendingly.

Now Sarah knew that she had to get this moving quicker. "Thank you, sir," she said. "As long as we're running the bases, why stop at second? Don't you think?" She took the hand that was on her breast and moved it to lie flat on her stomach. Then she shifted her legs again to give him the proper angle to slide south and gently but firmly pushed his hand down until it had reached her objective.

Once he was there he waited for a long moment before smiling. "See," he said condescendingly. "Taking things a little slower isn't so bad. Admit it." Chuck knew that he was pushing her as far as he could with the teasing. She was as on fire as he had ever seen her.

"Yes, sir," she whispered as she fought to wait for him to resume the necking.

"Good. Let's continue," he said as he nodded for her to resume the kiss. He allowed this next session of necking to last for a good long while.

Finally Sarah could wait no longer, broke the kiss, and looked him in the eyes. "Come on, Mr. Bartowski," she said with a smirk. "That was a nice warm up. But I'm a smart girl. I think that I know what you want next. Will it earn me some extra credit if I can guess and do it without being told?"

Without waiting for an answer she moved quickly to his neck, kissing her way. Then she started kissing her way down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as she went. She softy slid off his lap and ended up on the floor fumbling with his belt. "Mr. Bartowski sounds so formal considering what's about to happen," she said with a sexy pout. "Can I call you Charles?" Then in one fluid motion his belt was quickly off and she was holding it in her hand. "Tell me, Charles," she breathed with a soft smile without actually waiting for permission. "I have something of a reputation for being a good guesser. Give me a hint. Am I getting warm at all?"

Chuck just smiled and leaned back as he felt the button on his pants give way. There really was no longer any pretense of him being in charge, but he realized that she was letting him off the hook and was now perfectly content to let her take the lead. So he helped her a bit by lifting his hips to allow her to pull them off and watched as they joined her negligee on the floor. Then he relaxed and closed his eyes, fully intending to savor every magical sensation of his reward for winning a stupid bet.

After a few magical minutes Chuck was struggling to regain his bearings when he felt Sarah sitting again on his lap. "So, sweetie," she said with a sly grin. "Congratulations on winning our bet. I hope that it also served as an adequate apology for my stupid and unacceptable actions of this afternoon. Not to appear boastful, but you seemed to enjoy it. Was it exciting? It's okay. You can be honest. I was going for exciting."

Chuck was just beginning to regain his bearings. "Mission accomplished," he sighed.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're thanking me?" he asked incredulously. "Umm, you're welcome?"

"Not for that, silly," Sarah said with a laugh as she playfully slapped his chest. "You knew that I needed something from you, and even though it wasn't exactly your favorite thing you came through for me, like you always do. I have something of a confession to make. There is something about that red negligee that just gets me going. I've worn it twice and both times I'm totally on fire."

Chuck's smile turned sinister. "Are you sure it's the negligee?" he asked. "I'm kinda thinking that I might have had something to do with both times."

"You're going to be a little tough to live with now that you actually believe that, aren't you?" Sarah said with a laugh. "Maybe I've created a monster here. Now, I believe that it's my turn. After all, I also won a bet today. Are you ready to put out this fire and pay off?"

"Of course," Chuck said with a smile. "I'm thinking you might have some specifics in mind."

"Ma'am?" Sarah gently prodded with a grin that was pure evil. "And, yes. Your thinking is correct. I do have some specifics in mind… some incredibly detailed ones."

Chuck's smile turned into a full fledged grin. "Yes, ma'am,' he said. "I'm very ready."

"Do you want me to guess?"

x-x-x-x-x


	39. The Crush

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Crush**

x-x-x-x-x

_One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter. – James Earl Jones_

x-x-x-x-x

Devon was back in probably his least favorite spot in the world, stuck in that ridiculously tiny car with no air conditioning, parked in perhaps the seediest, smelliest alley in the greater London metro area, and almost as bad, sitting a foot and a half away from his future mother-in-law who clearly couldn't stand him.

The mission seemed simple enough. This Paul person that Cole had introduced to Ellie yesterday was the mark, just as Ellie had assumed at the time. He apparently was a rather small time drug dealer who was quickly working himself up the ranks. Cole's assignment was to offer him a choice. Wear a wire and lead them to his new suppliers, a rather unpleasant and vicious group that clearly included members of the British Military and had recently established a supply chain of uncommonly potent cocaine directly from Afghanistan. Or if Paul didn't like that option, he could always get arrested and spend the next two hundred years or so in prison.

The problem, as Cole explained it anyway, was that he needed to get Paul alone away from the gaggle of bodyguards who surrounded him in order to offer him the deal. There was no way Paul would ever accept a deal if anyone else knew about it. It seems that this new cartel had a way of dealing with snitches that made two hundred years in prison sound like a weekend at the spa.

So enter Ellie, or Trixie as Paul knew her. Her assignment was to get Paul alone in the hotel room that Cole had rented down the block, umm… conducting a business transaction. While Cole tipped back a cold one with the bodyguards keeping them occupied, Frost would enter the room before the transaction could reach it's initiation stage and… tell Paul all about his new assignment. She called it a piece of cake. Perhaps she was just showing off in front of Cole, but clearly she was quite proud of her persuasion skills. Maybe she would even allow this Paul to escape with only a mild lecture about the evils of treating women as sex objects. She might even have Ellie give the poor man his money back. Well, probably not.

At least this time Devon could hear what was happening. Mary had given in and fitted him with his own earpiece so he could listen to the wires that Cole and Ellie were wearing. Of course that was very possibly to have an excuse to not have to talk to him, but that was fine with Devon. He wasn't all that wild about talking to her either. Cole and Ellie were in the bar. And if it had been anybody but Ellie, Devon could actually have been quite entertained. Cole was clearly quite in character. He could have probably made a fine pimp had he decided to go that way. He quickly had this Paul character a thousand pounds lighter with his description of the good time that Trixie was going to show him. As it turned out, Cole claimed to have witnessed a special talent last night that Trixie had somehow developed… something about a tennis ball and a fifty foot section of garden hose. Devon would have asked Mary what it meant, but it was probably some drug culture thing. He already looked silly enough in her eyes. He made a mental note to ask Cole about it later.

Anyway, whatever this special talent was, this Paul dude understood it. In fact it clearly had him eager to pay a thousand pounds just to witness it for himself. He could see them just leaving the bar. Ellie had her arm looped through his as they walked down the street. In spite of himself, Devon couldn't help but feel a perverse sense of pride as he watched her. Ellie clearly could have made a fine high class call girl had that doctor thing not worked out so well for her. She certainly had all the… skills.

Unfortunately, Mary and Devon weren't the only two people watching. Two men sat just around the corner from them. It's a good thing that Devon didn't know this, but they actually had air conditioning. Some things in life simply weren't fair.

"Okay," one of the men said. "What's going on? I can see the look in your eyes from here. You know that we can't mess with them tonight. Roark said that we're just supposed to follow her."

"I know," Bub replied with an evil grin as he opened the door. "But that doesn't mean that we can't have a bit of sport, does it? If she wants to play whore, maybe we could make sure that she gets the total experience. After all when a man pays a thousand of his hard earned pounds for something, he should get it, don't you think?"

x-x-x-x-x

One thing was for sure. Sarah Bartowski was a much sounder sleeper than Sarah Walker ever had been. This was the second morning in the past week that she had found herself blissfully waking up to an empty bed. Sarah knew that a spy should never sleep that soundly. That simple fact, more than anything, told Sarah that she was no longer a spy. And the honest truth was it didn't bother her… not even a little bit. It was just the price you paid for being so incredibly, unbelievably, almost pathetically happy.

She could plainly hear the sounds of breakfast coming through the door… and she couldn't wait to get out there and join them. So she quickly stepped into the bathroom and ran a quick brush through her hair. The next question was what to wear? She saw the red negligee that was still lying on the floor in the same place that she had dropped it last night. That probably wouldn't do. With the matching bra and panties, it really wasn't very revealing. But it simply screamed seduction. For one thing, it would give Casey far too much ammunition to take shots at her. Besides, Dad was almost assuredly out there. So she quickly threw on her silk nightshirt. She saw her robe lying there but quickly decided. _To hell with it._ After all, the nightshirt wasn't transparent or anything. Actually, it wasn't nearly as revealing as the white bikini she had spent all of yesterday parading around in. It's just that it also didn't leave much of her figure to anyone's imagination. And Dad was out there...

Fortunately, any worries about embarrassing Dad were short lived. As soon as she walked into the dining room it was clear that if he was offended by the sight of the outline of a female breast he was in totally the wrong place anyway - and had been well before Sarah got there. Misty was wearing one of Casey's t-shirts, not too bad. But Carina, who must have gotten in late from her 'date', was wearing some sort of lacey top that might as well have been painted on… by some poor body who was clearly running out of paint.

Actually what Carina was wearing wasn't close to the worst part. She was sitting entirely too close to Chuck. They were all laughing at one of his stupid stories. Well, there was nothing wrong with that. Chuck could be very entertaining. Okay, so Carina was a natural flirt. Everybody knew that. But why was her hand resting on his arm like that?

Fortunately he was very conspicuous in making sure that he was looking anyplace but at Carina's chest area. It was very cute. Even cuter was the way his face lit up when he saw Sarah approach. Okay, so maybe there was no cause to make a scene kicking Carina's ass around the dining room… yet. And to her credit, even Carina immediately got up and moved to give her the seat at the table next to Chuck.

Naturally, Sarah's first order of business was to make sure that she let her husband know, in incredibly clear terms, how very much she had missed him in the twenty minutes or so that he had been out here without her… and maybe see how red she could make his face in the process. That question was quickly answered. He didn't shy away from the rather intense kiss, but his face did get damn red.

Then it was time to eat. Misty had made scrambled eggs sautéed with about every form of vegetable one could imagine. Sarah couldn't recognize all of the different kinds, but whatever they were, it was delicious. She had also made sausage gravy and biscuits which was one of Sarah's favorites anyway. So she attacked the food with an intensity that had Casey snickering. Even Chuck teased her about having worked up such an appetite last night.

But no amount of teasing could dent her good mood. It was one of those moments that Sarah had always dreamed about, breakfast with the extended family, laughing and teasing each other. And she was determined to take full advantage of every giggle.

The only down thing was a vague worry that something was clearly bothering Carina. Oh, she didn't say anything but Sarah could read the expression on her friend's face. It wasn't really all that surprising. After all, long term seduction missions weren't all that much fun, even for Carina. This was about the time in the 'relationship' when the mark would get bold enough to start asking for special fantasies. Sarah made up her mind to talk to her about it later. She knew that Carina probably wouldn't admit anything, would probably even make fun of her, but it was worth the shot.

Adding to Sarah's good mood was Misty's announcement that it was her and Casey's turn to clean up. That gave her the perfect opportunity to follow Chuck back into the bedroom with every intention of initiating a little honeymoon style morning action. Unfortunately, she never got the chance. Because as soon as the door was closed, Chuck was suddenly kissing her.

Sarah may have had her eyes closed enjoying the surprise attention from her husband but she could plainly feel him lifting her nightshirt. "Wow," she said between kisses as she raised her arms to allow him to throw it to the floor. "I'm going to have to ask Misty what was in those eggs."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Ellie and the mark were out of sight, Mary turned to Devon. "Stay put," she said. "I'll be right back."

Devon didn't respond, he just nodded as he watched Mary get out of the car and head to the hotel.

As soon as Mary got into the hotel, she quickly walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the eighth floor. There were two other men in the elevator, but Mary just ignored them. That was a serious mistake because she was suddenly looking down the barrel of a Glock.

"We'll take your purse," Bub said as he pushed the button for the fifth floor.

Mary quickly sized up her adversaries. His gun was pointed directly at her chest. There was no way to reach her own gun in time. Maybe they were two small time thugs who would just take the purse and leave. So she wordlessly handed it over.

Unfortunately Bub and his friend had something more sinister in mind. As the door to the elevator opened to the fifth floor, he indicated with a nod of his head for her to exit. One of the men had already reached behind her and relieved her of her gun that was placed in its spot in the small of her back. "Well, well," he said smugly with a smirk. "What do we have here?"

"Let's see what else you might have."

x-x-x-x-x

Carina hadn't really been back in her room all that long. She actually had spent a fair amount of time helping Misty clear the table. If she was surprised that it was Sarah who had just knocked at her door, she didn't show it. "Blondie," she said dismissively. "What's up?"

Sarah didn't respond. She just walked past Carina and into the room.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Carina asked. "A glass of lemonade perhaps?"

"If you actually had a glass of lemonade, I'd take it," Sarah responded with a soft smile. "But if you mean one of those shots of tequila, I don't think so. It's still morning."

Carina looked at her friend and grinned. "Remember that time in San Carlos when you refereed that tequila drinking contest between me and Zondra."

"Of course I remember," Sarah said with a laugh. "Who could forget that night? I should have had my head examined for letting you talk me into going out with you in the first place. I also remember how once you had tipped back a few shots, you two decided to see which one could dance the most provocatively. And then you intentionally started a brawl with the men fighting over you. Then after it finally settled down, I remember Zondra taking her bra off in the bathroom and egging them on again by unbuttoning more and more of her buttons. I think my ankle still hurts from kicking that one senor moron with the big head who thought that I looked _solitaria_ and kept trying to grab me. I was so pissed at you two."

That got Carina joining in the laughter. "Come on," she protested. "In his defense, you did look pretty lonely. Admit it. You had fun in that brawl. And trust me. That guy's head wasn't the only thing that was big. He was rubbing up against me pretty good on the dance floor. You should have taken him up on his generous offer. Besides, you know full well that Zondra had to be the one to take her bra off. I already wasn't wearing one. And let's face it. She probably wasn't ever going to be able to talk you into it. It was quite the night. We were lucky to escape that bar with our virginity intact."

"That we were," Sarah said as they continued laughing. "One of many nights that we were lucky to escape with our virginity intact."

"Okay," Carina said when the laughter died down. "So now that our little trip down memory lane is over, what's really up?"

Sarah opened her mouth to speak a couple of times but stopped, suddenly unsure on how to go about this. "I was just wondering if something is bothering you," she finally said. "You seem distracted."

"Let's see," Carina said sarcastically. "Tomorrow, we're going to leave for a suicide mission to kidnap the fucking President of the United States. You think I should be calm?"

"Come on," Sarah said softly. "That's not what I'm talking about… and you know it. The more dangerous the mission, the better you like it. There's something else."

"Shouldn't you be in bed with Chuck?" Carina asked dismissively. "Taking care of your 'wifely obligations'? After all, it's been ten minutes. The poor guy might explode."

Sarah couldn't help but grin. Trying to get Carina to open up had been a long shot in the first place. "Don't worry about Chuck," she said. "I just got done performing a whole slew of various wifely obligations. I'll spare you the details. He went fishing with Misty and Casey down to the lake. I figure he's safe from explosion for another forty-five minutes at least." Then she got serious again. "Look, Carina," she said softly. "I understand this life is lonely. I actually understand that better than ever now that… well, if you ever want to talk…"

Sarah totally expected another barb. But to her surprise Carina walked over to the window, separated the blinds a bit, and peered out into the fabulous view of the back of the barn. "Did you ever think that maybe there should be more to life?" she finally asked softly into the window. "Have you ever been with a mark and found yourself pretending that he was someone else? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get closer to someone, but knew that it could never happen?"

Sarah couldn't help the sag that immediately came into her shoulders. This was exactly what she feared. Of course she knew the feeling that Carina was describing. She knew it exactly. She honestly loved Carina, would do anything for her. And who wouldn't fall for Chuck once they were around him for a while? But this would be… weird. "Carina," she warned softly. "I'm trying to stay calm. But I'm not sure how I'll react if you tell me that you're in love with Chuck. I'm not about to share him."

That got Carina to turn away from the window. "Chuck," she said sarcastically. "You seriously think that I'm talking about Chuck? No offense, Blondie, but ewwww."

Sarah knew that she should be relieved… and she was. But she also wasn't in any sort of mental condition to allow anyone to take a shot at her Chuck. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked perhaps a tad more sharply than she intended. "What's wrong with Chuck?"

"Calm down, Blondie," Carina said with a short laugh. "Put your knife away. I'm not insulting your precious soul mate. He's a really great guy. And it clearly works for you. Sure, he makes me laugh when I need it, and I'll admit that I like that. I'll even admit that I've sought him out a little lately when I'm down and need a laugh. But let's face it. He's just not my type… not even a little bit. And please don't take this the wrong way but watching you two together makes me want to poke my own eye out with a stick. If I ever acted like that… wow. I just don't know what to tell you."

So now Sarah was relieved… and confused, and said so. "If it's not Chuck," she said. "Who? It can't be Casey. Devon?"

"You're kidding right?" Carina asked sarcastically. "If Chuck and Devon were my two choices, I'd flip a coin. Heads I'd pick Chuck… tails I'd shoot myself in the head… and I'd be rooting for tails."

Now Sarah was really confused. "Okay, I'm stumped. This is a man we're talking about, right?" she asked hesitantly.

That got Carina laughing. "Umm, you're the one who has everybody questioning her preferences," Carina laughed. "Remember?" But then she turned back to the window and got quiet for a long moment. "Sarah," she finally said. "Tell me the truth. Haven't you ever wondered what makes Steven tick?"

To say that Sarah was surprised didn't even come close to the truth. In fact you could have knocked her over with a feather. "You're in love with Steven?" she asked incredulously. "My father-in-law? He's old enough to be your… well, your dad's older brother."

"Who said anything about love?' Carina asked forcefully as she rounded tensely. "Why does it always have to be about love with you? I'm not even sure what love means." Then she took a long moment and calmed herself. "Just think about it," she said. "You and I have lived this life for ten years. Think about all the compromises we've had to make in that time. Think of all the crappy orders we've had to follow, all the distasteful things we've had to do, and all the things that we knew in our hearts were absolutely wrong but were forced to do them anyway. Steven has been doing this for thirty years… on his own terms without anybodies help. He doesn't take orders from anyone. Can you imagine the hotshots that we know, even the best ones? Can you imagine Bryce surviving thirty years without compromising like he has? And to have gone through all of that and still be that genuinely decent and approachable? He's amazing, Sarah. So yeah, I'm guess I'm really attracted to that. He's like nobody I can think of. And what difference does his age make? It just makes him more experienced."

"Okay, let's put the age thing aside for a second," Sarah said. "But he's pretty happily married. And if he's to be believed, she's incredibly jealous, almost as bad as I am."

"I know," Carina said wistfully. "It's never going to happen. I fully understand that. I'm not even necessarily talking about sex. I understand that sex means something far more serious to him than it does me. I would have just liked the chance to get to know him better, understand what makes him tick. And maybe let him get to know me a little better too, make him realize that I'm more than just the CIA trained whore."

Sarah walked over and put her arm around Carina. Surprisingly for once, she didn't pull away. "Why do you think that can't happen?" Sarah asked softly. "You do realize that a man and woman can be close friends without it being romantic or sexual? Look at Devon and Misty – or Casey and Ellie. I know for a fact that he doesn't think of you as the CIA trained whore. He has a lot of respect for you. When I head down to the lake to see if I can get Chuck away from those stupid fish and back on that blanket where he belongs, you need to go talk to him… honestly talk without the flirting nonsense that you always seem to lapse into with a man. Take some time and be his friend. I'll bet he'd like that."

"Maybe," Carina said thoughtfully. "Men like to be flirted with… but I could probably do that." Then her face took on something of a growing smirk. "So you're telling me that you honestly believe that Casey and Ellie haven't done the deed at least once? They spent that whole day at the lake with her all broken hearted and on the rebound. That's a tad naïve, don't you think?"

"I'm sure they haven't," Sarah said with her own grin. "I know exactly what happened. It wasn't even all that close. In fact, how did you put it… ewwww."

"That's too bad," Carina said. "Maybe Ellie and I should have a chat. She is actually missing out. He may not look it, but Casey is, surprisingly enough, quite talented in that capacity. He does this one thing…"

"Yeah," Sarah interrupted. "Thanks for offering to share that with me. Really. But I think I'll remain blissfully ignorant of the specifics and just take your word for it."

"Fair enough," Carina said. "Let me know if you ever change your mind. It really is a fairly unique talent."

"I will," Sarah said. "I wouldn't hold your breath. Trust me. I also don't think you need to feel sorry for Ellie at all in the bedroom department. We don't talk much about specifics… but I'm really confident that she is more than taken care of regularly. And, Carina, for what it's worth, please don't give up on love. It can be life changing. I can't believe how much better it's…"

"Yeah," Carina interrupted. "I think now it's me that'll remain blissfully ignorant of the specifics and just take your word for it."

"Fair enough," Sarah said. "Let me know if you ever change you mind."

"I believe that we're done here, Blondie," Carina said with a short laugh. "I think I hear some fish calling your name. Or maybe you'd better get back to your rather unconventional attempt at a honeymoon. Big day tomorrow. We need the intersect in one piece. Better not let him explode. For one thing, who wants to clean up that mess?"

Sarah grinned as she turned to walk to the door. Actually, Carina was right about one thing. It would be quite the mess. Fortunately, there was no way she was going to ever allow that to happen. She was just about to open the door when Carina stopped her. "Sarah," she called. "Thanks."

Sarah turned her head back to her oldest friend and flashed her warmest smile. "Hey," she said.

"Us virgins have to stick together."

x-x-x-x-x


	40. From Zero to Hero

_Content Warning: This is perhaps the most disturbing chapter I've ever written. I seriously thought about toning it down, but it's critical to the story._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**From Zero to Hero**

x-x-x-x-x

_The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. – __Umberto Eco_

x-x-x-x-x

The closer Ellie and Paul got to the door, the quicker her heart rate sped. The fear hadn't been all consuming, it wasn't even fear exactly. But whatever it was it'd most definitely let its presence be known in the ball of nerves buzzing around her stomach. And part of her had to admit, she was enjoying the power that she had over him. Sarah was right in Cancun, when he looked at the outline of her chest, he forgot his own name. It was just like playing a role. And at the moment, she was giving an all-star performance, stilted on the knowledge that backup was only moments away. All she had to do was stall for thirty seconds and Mom would be here to put this guy in his place. She vowed that she would have him crying within ten minutes. It was something that Mom was clearly looking forward to. And Ellie had to admit, she wouldn't mind seeing it herself. It seemed that her excitement that she couldn't hide only served to excite Paul more.

They made it to the room and she handed him the key to unlock the door. In a faux show of chivalry, he allowed Ellie to enter first. Knowing that, in just a few short moments, his fate would be sealed, she smiled sweetly at him, allowing the side of her breast to brush up against his arm a bit as she went in. Paul watched her with an arrogant smirk and Ellie felt the excitement grow a bit. She missed the sinister turn his face took once she'd passed.

The door shut with a bang, shaking the pictures on the paper thin walls. Ellie was startled by the loud noise and couldn't hide her surprise as she turned to him with wide eyes. She had to lean back at his sudden proximity. He grabbed her by her upper arms, forcing his lips against hers while moving them to the wall. On impact, Ellie's hands flew up to his chest as he continued his assault against her lips. She wasn't expecting this much aggression so soon so she had to make a conscious effort to allow her lips to soften into the kiss.

Satisfied she'd been pinned, he released one of her arms as he kissed down her neck, roughly grabbing for her breast and grounding his hips against hers. Ellie watched the door, waiting for her mother to spring in at any moment. His hand slithered down to her backside, looking to inch the mini skirt towards her middle. A resounding tremble ran through her body and she could feel him smile against her shoulder, obviously thinking it'd been a good tremble.

_What the hell is taking so long_? It was more than a little disconcerting that he was so much stronger than she anticipated. Ellie's breath quickened as she looked for anything to give her a small reprieve. Then she saw it. She gave him a light push on his shoulders and slipped from beneath his body. "Slow down, Sugar. We've got all night," she said as she sauntered over to the mini bar. Ellie would never call anybody 'Sugar' under normal circumstances. But it seemed like something that a hooker would say. She poured him a generous shot of bourbon and held it out, hoping he wouldn't think anything of the action.

Undeterred, Paul advanced on her, taking the drink from her outstretched hand. He threw his head back and downed the liquid, the glass hitting the table with a muted ping. He grabbed for Ellie again, cornering her against the mini bar and the wall. "Now, where were we?" he asked.

"I believe I'm to be shown a demonstration with a tennis ball."

x-x-x-x-x

Mary Bartowski was as close to a panic as a spy ever allowed herself. She knew that she had to get up there and help Ellie. This was the oddest robbery that she had ever heard of. These two didn't appear nervous in the least. But really what could she do? They had taken her gun and his Glock was still pointed directly at her chest. "Okay," she said. "You've taken everything. Why don't you let me go before you get caught?"

Bub was enjoying his sport… a lot. He knew full well that there was nothing of value in that purse, maybe a couple of pounds just for show. Whoever this bitch was, she was clearly an agent. He could clearly see the earpiece in her left ear. If there were any ID or credit cards in there, they were certainly fake. Trying to use them would be fatal. She was obviously listening to a wire someplace on this Bartowski slut. And the growing fear in her eyes told him that she was pretty desperate to get up there. So let's make her wait a bit. "How do we know we have everything," he sneered. "Why don't you face the wall and put your hands against it for me so we can make sure?"

Mary quickly did as she was told. The sooner they would be satisfied and leave, the sooner she could get up there and help Ellie. She could hear Ellie's frantic attempts to stall the mark. She had never met this Paul, but knew enough about the type of man he was to understand that Ellie only had a few moments to stay clothed.

She could feel Bub's hot breath on her neck as he placed his hands over hers and slowly inched them higher on the wall. "How about you raise your hands a bit more?" he demanded as he slowly took his feet and forced hers apart into the classic frisk position. Mary could feel his gun poking into the small of her back. At least she hoped it was his gun.

Mary was forced to stand there listening to her daughter trying in vain to fend off this creep that was looking for a thousand pounds worth of good time while Bub very methodically searched every inch of her body for… valuables.

x-x-x-x-x

Devon sat in the car and became more and more confused as he listened to the two scenes playing out in his earpiece. He was trying hard to tune out the conversation from the bar. Cole was obviously trying to keep the boys entertained with a lurid description of the good time Paul was probably having. It was banal and somewhat disgusting, but Devon had listened to plenty of similar discussions in the frat house. It was no big deal, just how men talked about women when they were trying to show off how big of a stud they were.

But he was really trying hard to concentrate on Ellie's wire. The plan was for Ellie to be alone with this guy for about twenty seconds. That was bad enough. But really what could happen in twenty seconds? A kiss maybe? Cop a quick feel?

But that twenty seconds had now passed about a minute ago. Something was clearly wrong. Devon could hear the growing desperation in Ellie's voice as she tried to stall him. He heard her offer the mark a drink… and that it didn't slow him down much.

But what should he do? Mary had been very clear that he was to wait in the car. But where in the hell was she? Devon slowly got out of the car. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to be a little closer in case Ellie needed help.

When he heard the unmistakable sound of kissing, Devon started walking towards the hotel in earnest.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie swallowed, suddenly wishing she'd also poured herself a drink. Something had clearly gone wrong. Mom should have been here minutes ago. And Paul clearly wanted to start off his purchased night of debauchery with a bang. Trying to get him to go at all slowly was plainly not going to work. She knew that she only had a scant few seconds to do something… or quickly lose her amateur status in the bedroom. Paul was way more than she could handle. Sarah hadn't said anything about this in Cancun. She was in way over her head here. His breath was hot against her ear and he made the most awful slurping sound as he toyed with her earlobe. His hand was attempting to massage her left breast free of her halter top… and was almost there. She had to get out of this room quickly or this was going to get serious. If her Mom wouldn't get her out then she'd just have to get herself out.

Ellie lifted her shoulders to her ears and bent away from him. His arms were too strong for her to get completely away but at least he wasn't kissing her ear anymore. "You know, suddenly, I'm not feeling so well. Perhaps we could finish this tomorrow?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he bellowed into her face.

"I'm sorry." Ellie bit her lip and put on her most pathetic face, one that would get her anything with Devon. It was a card that she didn't play often but it had never failed. In the most enticing way possible, she said, "I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

But Paul wasn't Devon.

Ellie should have known that appealing to a john's sense of pity wouldn't work in this situation. And if she had been thinking at all rationally she would have quickly come to that conclusion. After all, Dr. Eleanor Bartowski had treated scores of women in the Emergency Room after very similar situations. She was fully aware of a prostitute's main occupational hazard. But it all seemed a little surreal somehow, like she was watching this happen to someone else. She saw the backhanded slap coming just about the time it was impacting her left cheek.

That first slap wasn't designed to do any real damage aside from the red mark that she could feel raising on her cheek. Oh, it stung like hell, but it was more to get her attention. And by that measure it certainly succeeded. He had Ellie's full and undivided attention. It was the first time in her life that Ellie had been struck like that. The fear suddenly turned to panic.

"I don't think so," he said with a smirk. "I paid you a thousand pounds. I'm going to get every tuppence worth. Do as you're told and maybe you don't have to get seriously hurt." Then he pointed his index finger until it was poking into the left breast that he had been trying to free. "Show me."

So Ellie may not have been a real hooker, maybe didn't know all of the terms, wasn't even sure what a tuppence was other than it is what Mary Poppins used to feed the birds, but what he wanted from her was pretty clear. The problem was that Ellie really didn't want to take off her top for this creep with Devon sitting in the car listening to every word. _Where in the hell was Mom anyway?_ So she tried to stall. She put as much fake smile as she could under the circumstances on her face. "Come on, sugar," she said. "Of course you're going to get…"

Ellie paused in mid sentence as Paul raised his hand threateningly to slap her again. Realizing that she didn't have much choice and not wanting to get hit again, she reluctantly reached down and lifted her flimsy halter top out of place showing him her breast.

Paul smiled approvingly. "Now take it off," he said.

Ellie tried to stall again. "Please Paul," she said. "It doesn't have to be like this."

Unfortunately, that was one stall too many. The next blow was not a slap. It was a fist that landed flush on Ellie's jaw.

x-x-x-x-x

Devon was heading towards the hotel on the dead run even before he heard the unmistakable sound of hand forcefully meeting face. Before he had reached the elevator, he could hear the sounds of the one sided fight. He knew that he had to get up there as quickly as he possibly could. The damn elevator would take a fucking year to get to the floor, so he frantically ran to the stairs.

As soon as he reached the floor, he quickly ran to the room. Naturally Devon was in great shape, but running up eight floors of stairs had even him a bit winded. But there was no time to think about that. So what now? Mary had the other room key. There was really no time to think about the danger. This guy probably had a weapon. But he had to get in there somehow and help Ellie. He had never done this before but he tried a kick at the door with all of his might. Fortunately, that hotel door was not close to being a match for Devon's rage and it came flying open.

He was in the room.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was no longer totally sure where she was. The blow had knocked her head forcefully against the wall and had her seeing stars.

"Fine," Paul growled fiercely as he grabbed her top and yanked brutally. The shear material was simply no match for this savage assault and it quickly hung in tatters from her shoulders. "You don't want to take it off. Let me help you."

Even in her daze Ellie knew that this was now out of control. Out of instinct more than anything she folded her arms protectively over her newly exposed chest. That earned her a vicious uppercut style punch to the midsection that quickly had her lying on the floor in a heap gasping for breath.

"Make it up to me?" Paul asked sarcastically. "Just what kind of fool do you take me for anyway?" Then he grabbed a handful of Ellie's hair and roughly pulled her to her feet. "I have a better idea, you teasing bitch." Another vicious backhand slap to her face had knocked her backwards until she was helplessly lying on her back on the bed. "How about you make it up to me right now?" Again, out of instinct, she raised her arms to cover her chest. That apparently enraged Paul even more and he jumped on her and began slapping her now helpless face over and over.

Ellie was now barely conscious. Instinctively more than anything she knew that in order to survive she simply had to get him to stop hitting her. And there was only one way to do that. So she gave in. "Okay," she moaned in defeat and moved her hands from her chest to cover her face. "Okay."

Paul had clearly sensed that she was done resisting. There were not many things in life more fun than putting an uppity whore in her place. But now it was time for a different kind of fun. So he took a step back from the bed and admired his handiwork for a long moment. She was lying there passively no longer making any attempt to cover herself. "This is how tonight's going to go," he said as he quickly unsnapped and relieved her of her miniskirt. He actually took his time with the red thong. He slowly eased it over her hips and slid it down her legs rubbing her smooth thighs along the way. But soon enough it joined the skirt on the floor. Then he stood in front of her and used his knees to pry hers apart. "You just do as you're told, show me a real good time, and I don't hit you any more." He was just unbuckling his own belt when Devon came busting through the door.

Devon had been listening to the fight in his ear all along. So he knew generally what to expect. But even that knowledge couldn't prepare him for the horrible sight before him. His Ellie was lying helplessly flat on her back fundamentally naked with her hands covering her face. Her feet weren't quite touching the floor. She wasn't moving at all. The jerk that had just brutally assaulted her was in the process of taking off his own pants.

Apparently Paul was very successful at fighting women that he outweighed by a hundred and fifty pounds. In fact he was undefeated in that weight class. A huge body builder and overall fitness freak with muscles in places that most men could only dream of, not so much. Not that it would have made the tiniest bit of difference. Devon's rage would have earned him the heavyweight crown that night. The first massive overhand right handed punch to Paul's jaw knocked him silly and frankly almost looked like a cartoon as he went flying halfway across the room. Punches two through twenty that were delivered in rapid fire fashion in the span of about ten seconds were clearly just for emphasis.

Devon finally regained enough awareness through the fog of his own rage to realize that the unconscious lump lying on the floor was no longer an immediate threat. So he turned his attention to his fiancé who was still lying fundamentally naked moaning with her hands covering her face. He quickly turned from fighter to fiancé and then even more quickly to doctor as he saw the extent of her injuries. He sat on the bed next to her and tried to gently pull her hands away from her face to get a better look.

Ellie still didn't know where she was. "No more," was all she could groan as she kept her hands firmly protecting her face.

"Damn it, Ellie," Devon said firmly. "It's me." Then he realized how pumped up he still was and how angry he sounded and took a moment to calm his voice. Naturally, Devon had seen Ellie naked scores of times. But the way she was currently helplessly laying suddenly struck him as obscene, so he pulled the bedspread over and gently covered her with it. "It's all over. Come on babe. Move your hands for me so I can get a look at you."

Devon was still trying in vain to pull Ellie's hands away so he could look at her injuries when Mary burst into the room. As soon as she assessed the situation, she walked up to Devon. "Is she going to be okay?" she asked breathlessly. "Do we need an ambulance?"

"I'm not sure yet," Devon said. "I want to wait until she regains some consciousness to examine her more fully. No ambulance. We might need to get some x-rays. Where were you?"

"I got mugged," Mary said as she walked over to where was Paul was lying on the floor and thoroughly frisked him.

"What are you looking for?" Devon asked.

"This," Mary said grimly as she held up Paul's gun. "He could have killed you, Devon."

All Devon could do was nod. He assumed that Paul probably had a weapon of some kind. But actually seeing it drove home the seriousness of the situation. The adrenalin that had fueled his outburst was now mostly gone. All he wanted now was to get Ellie out of this disgusting place.

"Is she safe to move?" Mary asked. "Let's get her back to the hotel and make her comfortable."

Mary helped Devon wrap Ellie in the bedspread. Devon then gently scooped her up in his arms.

"Wait for me in the hall," Mary said sharply. The jut of her jaw very clearly said that it wasn't a request.

Devon carried Ellie out into the hall. She was still not close to being conscious but she instinctively snuggled into Devon who wrapped his arm around her protectively as best he could. They didn't have long to wait until they quickly heard two shots ring out. Mary came out of the room nodding towards the elevator. "Let's go," she said.

Devon knew… but he asked anyway. "Mary," she said. "What did you do?"

"That lowlife drug running bastard has hit his last woman," Mary growled. "I guess that Cole's mission is now unfortunately terminated by unanticipated events."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Devon stepped out of the bedroom, Cole was all over him. "How is she, mate," he asked anxiously.

Devon paused for a bit to consider the question. Ellie had taken some severe blows but the immediate effects were starting to wear off. She had started to regain some measure of awareness in the car. By the time they got back to the hotel, she was able to numbly mumble the answers to his questions. In fact she probably could have walked into the hotel on her own but he insisted on carrying her… and she didn't even begin to put up any protest. On the contrary, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life.

Devon knew that it would be a challenge to get her to allow him to examine her. They say that doctors make the worst patients and Ellie was somewhat of the poster child for that. But finally she grudgingly allowed him to test enough to be confident that she didn't have any broken bones. But she looked like she had just gone fifteen rounds… and lost them all. And she was clearly hurting. That much was plain when she took the Vicodin that he offered without protest. Ellie never wanted to take drugs, said that she hated the feeling. But he didn't really start to breathe easier until she made that small joke about wanting to retire as a hooker. That was when Devon knew that she would eventually be okay. So he just got into bed with her and held her until the Vicodin kicked in. It had only been a few minutes before she succumbed to the drug and was soundly sleeping.

"She's fine," Devon finally said with a sigh. "All things considered. She's going to be fairly sore for a few days. She's going to have some facial bruising and probably a couple of black eyes. But a week from now, she'll be good as new."

Cole's shoulders noticeably slumped in relief. "Thank God," he sighed. Then to Devon's utter shock, Cole stepped up and embraced him. "This has been a horrible day. But thanks to you, it wasn't nearly as horrible as it could have been."

Devon really didn't know what to do with his hands. This bad ass super spy hugging him was really the last thing he expected. "I didn't have a clue what to do," he replied with a small smile. "Not even close. I just did what I had to do. I was scared. I just made a fist and hit him as hard as I could."

"Some of the greatest deeds in history were performed by men who didn't know what they were doing at the time," Cole said. "If you had been trained to do this, nobody would be impressed. It would just be you doing your job. Not having a clue is exactly what makes you a hero. You were scared… and did it anyway. You'll never know how proud I am of you right now."

Devon really didn't know what to say. So he settled for the obvious. "Thanks," he said.

"But just a bit of friendly advice, my friend," Cole continued. "Heroes don't often walk away without a scratch. Let's make a deal. From now on you stick to healing people and leave the breaking them to blokes like me… agreed?"

"Yes, sir," Devon said with a sigh as he finally was able to get free from Cole's death grip. "Agreed."

Cole stepped over to behind where Mary was sitting on the couch and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Agent Frost," he said. "It is the highest honor of my career to have worked with you. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see you again soon. I'd love the chance to meet your famous husband someday." Then Cole paused for a long moment before continuing. "Mary, please stop beating yourself up over this. You have a truly remarkable family. I know that I don't have to ask you this but take good care of her. She's my best friend in the world."

Mary didn't say anything. She didn't even look up. She just reached up and grabbed the hand that was resting on her shoulder. She gave it a long, affectionate squeeze.

When Cole left, Devon looked around more closely. He noticed for the first time that Mary had a glass of Scotch in her hand… and that the hand was shaking so badly that the drink was sloshing around noticeably. The bottle that sat on the table next to her was already about a third gone. It really didn't take a doctor to figure out that here was someone using alcohol to dent the pain. And even though she wasn't close to being his favorite person in the world, nobody should hurt like this. So he sat next to her. "Are you all right?" he gently asked.

Mary made no attempt to hide the tears that were filling her eyes. She knew that if she tried to speak, she would break down. "I'm the worst mother in the history of the world," she was finally able to choke out.

Devon didn't know what to do to comfort her. He certainly couldn't refute her claim. He really couldn't think of any example of a worse mother. Well, guppies eat their young sometimes, but that was a stretch and probably wouldn't offer much comfort anyway. He really didn't feel all that comfortable putting his arm around her or any other physical gesture of comfort. So he settled for a meaningless platitude. "I seriously doubt that," he said.

"Steven and I always knew that there was no way out of this but to fight," she said shakily without really looking over at him as she took another pull of her drink, wincing as the harsh liquor burned its way down her throat.. "But that's why we left the kids. We always knew that our enemies would use them if they knew about them. We figured the best way to protect them would be to leave, watch over them from afar, allow them to live their lives never knowing about their messed up family war. But it found them anyway. Fucking Bryce Larkin, if the man wasn't already dead, I'd shoot him myself."

In spite of himself, Devon was finding himself genuinely feeling sorry for her. "That was a tough choice," he said softly. "I'll bet it was very hard for you." Then he reached over and gently took the glass from her hand and placed it on the table out of her reach. "We really don't need any more of this, do we?"

To his surprise, that actually got something of a shaky smile. "You're a good man, Devon," she said. "Cole's right. You saved the day. I'm glad that Ellie, well Chuck too for that matter, found such a great person to take care of them."

Devon shrugged off her compliment. "I'll always do my very best to take care of her," he said. "I love her."

That got a little bigger smile. "I know," she said. "I'm confident of that now. It's the only thing about this situation that could even remotely be spun as good. I have something of a small confession to make. I've been intentionally treating you like crap. I figured that if you were intimidated you'd be more likely to follow my instructions if things ever got dangerous. I'm sorry about that. It was unfair. I promise from now on I'll be more civil."

To be honest Devon wasn't sure if that was good news or not. But it did explain some things. And it did actually embolden him to ask the question that he had been wondering about. "Cole acted like he was saying goodbye," he said. "Has the plan to save the President changed?"

"No," Mary said. "Not really. Chuck and the team will be here tomorrow. I'm taking Ellie back home. She's in no shape to be here and when it all hits the fan she'll be safer at home with her father and me."

Devon was surprised at that news. "What about me?" he asked. "Am I going with you?"

Mary looked at him. "I'm sorry that you got mixed up with such a sorry excuse for a family," she said. "Naturally, I can't tell you what to do. I wouldn't even if I could. But it would be a huge help if you would stay and help Cole with the mission. They're going to need you… and Ellie is never going to be truly safe until this is over."

Devon finally felt comfortable enough to reach around and put his arm around her protectively. "This is my family too," he said. "You probably don't believe this, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Surprisingly, Mary snuggled into his shoulder. "Thanks," she said.

They stayed that way for a long time simply enjoying the quiet bonding moment. There was still a question that he needed to ask. He debated if he should call her Mom. He knew she would like that, but he finally decided it would sound fake. One hour of bonding didn't make her his mom. That was something they would have to grow into. "Mary," he finally said. "Tell me something. Is this ever going to be over? Are we ever going to be able to go back to a normal life, maybe raise a family of our own?"

If he knew it or not,Devoncouldn't have possibly done anything better for Mary at that particular moment than to sit there and gently hold her. It was exactly what she needed. "It's almost over," Mary sighed as she snuggled even deeper into his shoulder. "This is the moment we've been fighting to get to for the past twenty years. Our enemies have finally made their fatal mistake. We're on the eve of the very last battle. One thing is for sure. Nothing is going to cheat you out of that life, Devon. I'll die before I allow that to happen. That much I promise."

Little did Devon realize at the time how prophetic her statement was.

x-x-x-x-x


	41. The Beginning of the End

_Well, I did it. One of my goals for this story was to get us into the new season. They threw me a couple of curve balls, but we're here. Look for things to move a lot faster in the story now, perhaps dizzyingly so._

_There was a scene in Dream Job when Ted Roark finally captures Orion. He tells him that "you always had a way with the machines, and I always had a way with the ladies." Remember that? I always speculated on what that meant. Here's my theory._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Beginning of the End**

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_What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. – Juliet Capulet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet_

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It was a long flight… for everybody. Of course the eight hour flight across the Atlantic was long by anybody's reckoning. Naturally they had all heard about Ellie and couldn't wait to see her. But they all also had their own personal reasons that the time on the plane seemed to drag.

Obviously the sixteen hours, if you counted the trips to and from the airport, were by far the longest non-sex drought of Chuck and Sarah's fledgling marriage. Chuck's original plan was to challenge Sarah to make good on her boasting. After all, she was pretty insistent that should he ask she would find a way to make it happen no matter where they were, right? And he had no doubt that she would have… found a way, that is. Casey teased that she could probably talk the pilots into giving them the cockpit for an hour or so. Chuck couldn't rule it out. After all, it was private, the pilots were all men, and his wife had this magic spell thingy – one bat of her eyes and she was almost always able to quickly talk a man into almost anything. But the news about Ellie probably took any desire to break every FAA regulation one could think of and join the mile high club off the table. So they settled for snuggling under a blanket. And yes, both sets of hands got more than a little adventuresome as they explored the boundaries of their circumstance. But you probably couldn't call it sex, not even setting aside the Clinton standards. Of course Carina wouldn't be Carina if she hadn't teased them incessantly. So that was a treat.

Fortunately, Carina was tired and slept for a good portion of the trip. It seemed that she and Steven had stayed up all night talking. Apparently the friendship thing was off to a good start. Sarah couldn't get many details out of her. She did say that Steven set down some pretty strict ground rules about boundaries… that, knowing Carina, she had almost assuredly tried once or twice to cross with no luck. She didn't have to say all that much. Her mood said that she clearly was looking forward to getting back and picking up where she left off. Sarah would have honestly been a little jealous normally. She was pretty proud herself of the relationship that she had forged with Steven. But she knew that she couldn't afford to have any jealousy this time. She probably would be the one to have to referee between Carina and Mary as it was. And Mary probably could, all on her own, throw all the jealousy Carina's way that she could handle, and then some perhaps.

But definitely the person taking the trip hardest was Casey. Misty was putting on a brave face… but she clearly wasn't all that comfortable seeing him depart on a multi-day mission undercover as Carina's husband. There was really nothing all that unusual in that. But it helped that Sarah promised to give her a full report leaving no detail omitted. But Casey was also clearly affected. That, more than anything, said that Misty was more than just another girl to him. Casey never allowed any feelings to get in the way of a mission. He lived for the next one. Of course there was zero fear that Casey would be less than a hundred percent effective, he was the consummate professional. But Chuck was storing up ways to jab him anyway. That would have already been well under way except for Sarah's stern lecture that it would just be cruel. Fortunately time was on Chuck's side. After all, Casey couldn't ever go very long before pissing Sarah off… then goodbye teasing moratorium.

The way it turned out, they really didn't have much time to spend with Ellie. She and Mary were going to leave in the morning for the airport to catch their own flight back. She was feeling a lot better. Most of the pain had faded away. It was to the point now where it looked much worse than it actually felt. And that was a good thing because her face still looked pretty grim. And much like the flight, each person had a different reaction seeing the damage that had been done.

Chuck was sad. That was a huge understatement. He was pretty much devastated, openly crying. He just couldn't imagine anyone hitting his sister like that. So much so that Ellie had to take him aside and spend a fair amount of time reassuring him that she was okay… and gently reminding him to get his own mind back on his work before he ended up looking worse. It was sort of an ironic moment. Chuck's biological mother was standing right there. But when he needed a mom's comfort, he turned to Ellie - like he always had.

Naturally it wasn't all that hard to predict Sarah's reaction. One look at Ellie's broken face and she was quickly stomping around the room throwing things and looking for someone to shoot in the head ten to twelve times. In fact, she was actually more than a little miffed at Mary because she had already done just that. She was so livid that she actually lashed out pretty harshly at Chuck about the dangers inherent with a mission… and how it could just as easily happen to him if he ever let his guard down. A month ago that would have led to a huge fight between them. It was one of the surest signs that they had grown as a couple that Chuck recognized that she wasn't really yelling at him, but rather at the situation… and kept his mouth shut. It was actually Ellie who had to play big sister and finally calm her down.

But again, the one with the strongest reaction was Casey… on several levels really. First, a man hitting a woman in any situation was something of a red letter hot button for him. It always had been. But this was Ellie. He had a protective kid sister thing going with her, so to see her face so battered and bruised… well, you do the math. It took Ellie more than a few minutes to get him to relax, but finally they were off giggling about some mindless thing that nobody else in the world would think was funny. That was just their relationship. Chuck wondered about it at first, but it made his head hurt and he finally gave up. It was unexplainable.

Finally everyone was calm and in a relatively good mood. It was still only mid-afternoon, much too early for dinner. So Devon suggested that they take a nap for a couple of hours. Ellie could use the rest, and it actually sounded good to everybody. Yesterday had been a long day.

"Before I forget, I want you to take care of my fiancé," Ellie said as she turned towards Sarah. "I'm counting on you to keep him safe. Don't let him do anything stupid."

Sarah stepped up to where Devon was standing and sided into him as she looped her arm around his waist. "Don't worry," she said affectionately. "After all, the way I heard the story he's now a bad ass hero himself. He saved the day."

Ellie's grin belied the stern tone of her voice as she pulled Sarah away. "I didn't mean to imply that you should actually touch him," she said in mock disgust. "I can get just as jealous as you can. Besides, don't you have your hands full of your own hero as it is?" Then she turned to Chuck. "Can't you control your wife for like ten minutes?"

Chuck simply shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry," he said. "She's been out of control since the day I met her."

Sarah returned Ellie's grin as she saw Devon's face quickly turning beet red. "Duly noted," she said. "And yes, I do… both hands… totally full."

"Good," Ellie said. "Now, off for your 'nap'."

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As soon as they were safely in their room, Chuck walked over and plopped down heavily onto the bed. He was still frankly a little wary. After all, it had just been an hour or so ago when she was screaming at him because she was frustrated about Ellie.

Sarah just stood there for a long moment staring at him with her hands on her hips. "Seriously," she said with more than a little annoyance. "Did you really think that we came in here to take a nap?"

"Well," Chuck said with something of a growing grin. "Aren't you tired? It was a long flight."

Sarah fought to keep the grin from her face. "Let me put this into terms that even you can understand," she growled. Now her annoyance was clearly in the faux territory. "It's been a whole day. Stand up. Clothes off."

"Wow," Chuck said as he climbed off the bed and began to unbutton his shirt. "Taking charge, are we? I like it."

"You like it?" Sarah asked incredulously. "In that case, why don't you unbutton that shirt a little slower?" She walked over and sat on the bed in front of him and waived her hand for him to continue with a grin. "You're always treating me as a sex object. Maybe it's time for me to turn the tables a bit."

"I don't treat…" Chuck began to protest.

"Really, Chuck," Sarah interrupted. "You see, sweetie, here's the thing. Sex objects are actually much better when they're seen and not heard. When I want to hear the sound of your voice, I'll ask you a direct question. Now… just what am I going to do with you anyway? It's something of a dilemma I find myself in. Here I have this absolutely perfect husband who proves once again that he's the sweetest guy in the world by standing there and allowing me to scream at him in front of his family just because he recognized that I was hurting and needed to vent. It really makes me realize how imperfect a wife I am and how little I really deserve him. I could try and use some words to tell him how much I love him. I know that he really likes it when I do that. But I think we both would agree that this situation calls for something more… physical. He needs to be rewarded in some grand dramatic manner. But how? What would the perfect wife do in such a situation?"

Then Sarah's smile turned sinister.

"Maybe I'll have to guess."

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As soon as everyone had reassembled after their nap, Mary turned to where Casey and Carina were standing. "I hope that you don't take any offense at this,' she said. "This is not a trust issue. They'll be free to fully brief you both after I leave. But I need to talk to my kids for a few minutes in private before dinner. They need to hear this story as a family from my lips."

If Casey was offended at all, he didn't show it. He just nodded. "We'll be down in the bar," he said as he and Carina turned to leave.

Sarah really didn't know what to do. Well, that wasn't true. She wasn't sure what Mary meant by kids, but there was no way she was leaving Chuck's side unless Mary specifically told her to, and even then not without registering a huge protest. So she just grabbed Chuck's hand firmly and dared her to say something. Fortunately, Mary wanted Sarah to stay anyway. In fact Devon turned to follow Casey when he felt Mary's hand grab his arm. "Just where do you think you're going?" she asked with somewhat of a warm smile. "I need to talk to all of my kids. You may not technically be one yet. But let's ignore that small detail, shall we? I need to tell you some details that you'll need to protect yourselves."

As soon as the door closed Mary turned to the group. "I only have time for the short version of this story," she said. "We really wanted to wait and tell you together. But this is all starting to move a little too quickly and it's important now that you know the truth. The longer version will have to wait until this is over and Steven and I can both sit and talk to you." Then she turned to Chuck. "Do you know who Ted Roark is?" she asked.

Chuck did a double take trying to figure out if the question was a serious one. Everybody knew who Ted Roark was, even non-nerds. Finally he decided that it was. "Ted Roark of Roark Industries?" he asked. "Of course. He's one of the richest men in the world. I'd love to work for him someday."

"So would he," Mary said with a sigh. "He'd love it a lot. Although not in the way you're thinking. You see, Chuck, Ted Roark was your dad's roommate in college."

"Wow," Chuck said, clearly impressed. "No kidding. Dad knows Ted Roark? He's really famous. Maybe he could put in a good word for me."

Mary nodded. "He more than knows him," she said. "Most all of the innovations that made Roark Industries into the world power that it became were originally Steven's ideas."

"So Dad was the brains behind Roark," Chuck said. "He must be rich."

"Well," Mary said haltingly. "Not from Roark anyway. Steven was never paid anything when Roark stole his plans. It's one of many sore spots that inevitably come up quickly with him whenever you mention Roark's name in front of him. But don't get ahead in the story. You see, they became partners. It actually worked out well at first. They both had strengths that complimented each other. Ted Roark wasn't nearly as good with technology. He was more the charming, smooth talker. So he became the face man. He was good with presenting ideas and getting others to invest. Steven never wanted any publicity so he pretty much stayed in the background. Steven's main vision was an idea about using the human brain as a supercomputer. Everybody could see that it had tremendous potential. But at the time they were two poor college students. Steven needed a ton of capital to fund their research to get to the point of a prototype. So they decided to apply for a government grant. Roark did all of that, representing Steven's research as his own. There was nothing underhanded, that's what they agreed to do. Well, it's not hard to imagine that it quickly attracted the attention of the CIA. After all, this was in the very middle of the cold war. Everybody knew that this technology could possibly affect the balance of power in the world should it ever fall into the wrong hands. So they assigned an agent to…"

"You were that agent," Ellie interrupted. "You were assigned to become Dad's handler."

"Actually no," Mary said. "This is the part that drives Steven a little crazy. He gets a little sensitive talking about this, irrational even. In fact, if he were here I would be a lot more careful about how I described it. But I was assigned to become Ted Roark's handler. Nobody really knew anything about Steven at that point."

"Why does that drive Dad crazy?" Chuck asked.

Sarah suddenly understood. "Mom was a CIA agent assigned to control an asset," she said softly as her light bulb went on. "She was ordered to use sex to control him. That's pretty much standard procedure with such a valuable asset. It's what I was supposed to do with you."

"You cheated on Dad?" Ellie asked sadly.

Mary rounded on Ellie angrily and squared up to her. "I would never cheat on your dad," she growled. "You'll never begin to understand what we have, what I went through so we could be together, and how much I love him. I would never do anything to hurt him. And I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here and listen to anyone suggest otherwise, not even you, Eleanor."

Ellie was in no mood to back down a single inch. So she just squared up herself and returned her mother's glare.

After a long tense moment, Mary finally calmed herself and reached out her hand to touch her daughter's arm. "I'm sorry that I got harsh," she said sadly. "Maybe someday you'll understand why that's such a hot button topic for me. Anyway Roark and I were together for a while before I even met your dad. I'll spare you any of the lurid details but Sarah has it fundamentally correct. I was his cover girlfriend… and that allowed him to insist on a fair amount of intimacy, of which he took full advantage. He called it a perk of the job. I didn't meet Steven until after Roark and I were already… umm, engaged. If anything, I cheated on Roark with your dad. That's the way that Ted sees it anyway."

"You were engaged to Ted Roark?" Chuck asked incredulously.

Mary looked at the floor for a long moment. "It was a messed up time," she finally said. "My superiors felt that an engagement would ensure his loyalty, so I wasn't given a choice. Ted was all over the idea since it meant that we would move in together and share a bed. But it actually got him comfortable enough that he finally introduced me to Steven. The first minute I met him I felt something between us. After only a couple of days we had a connection that was undeniable. He could always make me laugh no matter how I was feeling. So here I was living with a cover fiancé, but I was finding myself quickly falling for someone else. Sarah is probably the only one here who could hope to understand what I was going through. He was like nobody I had ever met before, clearly the brains behind the operation. I knew that developing feelings was dangerous. I tried my best to stay distant, but I just couldn't help it. And all the while I was a CIA operative. I had an assignment."

Ellie poked Sarah in the ribs. "Ted Roark sounds like Mom's Bryce Larkin," she said with an ironic smile.

"Exactly," Mary sighed. "Well, it wasn't exactly the same. But there are enough parallels to be frightening. Given our situation the only way that it was appropriate to spend any time with Steven was as a trio. So I manipulated Roark into making that happen. We became inseparable. We would regularly spend all night talking. After Ted would fall asleep, it would just be me and Steven, talking about the world and how our ideas could change it for the better. And that's when I realized that I was in serious trouble. Steven was breaking down my agent walls. I was falling hard and fast for the guy. I didn't know what to do. He was quickly becoming more important to me than my assignment. We… well Steven actually, really didn't trust the government to do the right thing with so much power. So we toyed with forming an organization to own our inventions, including the intersect. That organization would exist outside of any government. Its sole purpose would be to do good for people. It was so romantic."

Sarah was the first to speak. "So, Mom," she said. "How did you and Dad finally get together? After all, you didn't have Ellie to play cupid for you like I did."

"It took him a while," Mary replied with a gleam in her eyes. "It was becoming plain that we were destined to be together somehow. I had been ready for some time. I was fighting for weeks to keep from jumping on him. It was awkward because Ted was always there. But finally Ted had to go out of town for the day to deal with his family so it was just us. So Steven finally came up with the lamest pick-up line in the history of the world. He told me that he always had idolized the scientist Archimedes and offered to demonstrate his famous discovery. In fact he is still always trying to get me in the bathtub to demonstrate his theory. It's been something of his way to let me know that he's in the mood, sort of a running joke between us. I remember that first time for us like it was ten minutes ago. Steven was clearly surprised when I said yes. He was so nervous that he could hardly fill the tub. His hands were shaking so badly that I had to help him unbutton his shirt. Well, actually, I was pretty nervous too. Here I was, this cold heartless CIA Agent and I was being swept off my feet. I'll never forget his mindless stammering as he stood there and watched me take off my clothes. It was so cute. Of course at that point I was so worked up that he could have been speaking in pig Latin. I remember wanting to rip my clothes off… but I forced myself to take my time and slowly put on something of a show for him… just to let him know that I was all his that night. But finally we were ready. I'm not sure that Archimedes would have approved of Steven's demonstration. It wasn't exactly scientific. We didn't leave much water in that tub."

"Mom," Ellie groaned. "Okay, we all understand that you and Dad have had sex. I'm living proof of that. But please. Do we really have to listen to this descriptive an account of it?"

"Come on, Ellie," Sarah said with a smile. "I think that it's sweet." Then ignoring Ellie's dirty look, she turned to Mary. "Tell me, Mom. Does Dad happen to shout eureka at any point in this story?"

"Oh my God," Chuck groaned as he put his hands over his face. "That's why Dad was always taking so many baths."

Mary grinned broadly at her kid's obvious discomfort. "Okay, so I'm teasing you a little," she said. "Don't worry, Eleanor, I won't go into any more details of that first time, other than it was purely magical. It totally changed my life. I knew after that night that we could never go back to the way it was before. I was a callous CIA Agent. I never knew what love was, wasn't even sure that I believed it existed. But that changed for me in the course of a single night, in a bathtub of all places. All I knew was that I had found the person that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. And just in case you're wondering, no, you weren't conceived that night. We were already married when that happened. Ted actually took the news pretty well, or he pretended to anyway. He even helped us keep up appearances for a while. Anyway, Steven said that our new infant organization would be the thing that would give the good people of the world the leverage they needed to fight evil. And whatever he said, I was more than willing to go along with. I was on cloud nine."

Chuck's eyes widened. "Oh my God," he said. "Archimedes… Leverage… Mom…"

"I see that you've figured it out," Mary said with a wry smile that belied the tension in the room. "You're an incredibly bright young man, Chuck. You always have been. In the afterglow of two soul mates finding each other we created a new organization that night."

"We called it Fulcrum."

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	42. Family History

_I was going to title this chapter Family Matters. But it appears that name is taken. Damn._

_Okay, I tried to come up with a way to make some sense out of the mess that the show has made of the Orion/Frost back story. Here is the best I can do. There are still some serious holes. For one thing, the timeline doesn't work out with Mary leaving for years ahead of Steven. I'm also not sure where Hartley / Volkoff fit in. I think to a certain extent it could, but I'm not going there. So I'm going to ignore him in this story. I also can't explain how Steven from the grave sent Chuck on a mission to find his mom. Could he possibly have had no idea where she was? That means she would have had to leave on a mission without even telling him, leaving him with two small kids. That not only makes her a pretty disgusting person, it pretty much blows away any suggestion that she was taking care of his best friend, Hartley. And if Steven sent Chuck on a dangerous wild goose chase when he knew all along where she was, it makes him a pretty disgusting person. So I think it's better if all that (much like the Shaw / Sarah faux romance) just never happened, lol._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Family History**

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_Where does the family start? It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl - no superior alternative has yet been found. – Winston Churchill_

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There was stunned silence in the room for what seemed like forever. Finally Ellie was the one to break it. "Fulcrum?" she asked. "The group that has been trying to capture Chuck for the past two years so that they can torture and kill him? You and Dad created it?"

"I'm afraid so," Mary said with a sigh. "In retrospect, it doesn't seem like all that good of an idea, does it? In all fairness, we weren't expecting that Fulcrum would turn evil."

Sarah's head was spinning. She had so many questions that she didn't know which to ask first. What she did know was that Chuck was in danger. Oh, it was irrational fear. She recognized that right away. He wasn't in any imminent danger, at least not any more than he always had been. But that knowledge didn't stop the chill from hitting the pit of her stomach. It also didn't stop her from putting her arm around his waist and siding into him protectively. "I don't understand," she finally said. "How did you possibly get from that point – to here?"

Mary had to blink the tears out of her eyes as she watched Chuck recognize Sarah's need and wrap his own arm around her in a comforting gesture. "You want to protect him," she said softly. "Don't you? And you're afraid. I can feel your panic."

"Of course I want to protect him," Sarah said. "You're damn right I'm panicked. Is there some reason that I'm overlooking why I shouldn't be panicked?"

"Yes," Mary said. "There is a reason… a real good one. You're looking at her."

Mary was maybe willing to forgive the look of skepticism that Sarah, quite honestly, wasn't making all that much effort to keep from her face. "I understand," she said. "I'll admit that I probably haven't overwhelmed you yet with my dazzling array of amazing agent skills. In fact, you're absolutely right to be concerned. But, Sarah, trust me on something. I may be the one person in the whole world who knows exactly what you're feeling right now. Like I said, the parallels are frightening. Thirty-some years ago, I was standing exactly where you are. I was cuddled with the man who had very recently become my very life. And I knew that he was in serious danger… from two sides. There were bad people who wanted him for the knowledge that he had. And the CIA was also never going to let him go. I knew that neither side would ever allow him to live in peace as long as they thought that he could deliver them a working intersect."

Ellie sensed that she had to step in to break the tension. "But, Mom, how did you get away?" she asked. "You lived with us for years, had two kids, under your real names. How did these formidable organizations possibly not know how to find you?"

"They always knew how to find us," Mary said. "At least they thought that they did. They just didn't think there was any point. I went to Steven and told him that as long as there was a reasonable hope of building an intersect he would never be a free man, that we would never have a future together. So we dashed that hope."

"How did you do that?" Ellie asked in confusion. "Dad's idea was truly brilliant. The intersect works."

"They modified the research data," Devon said with sudden awareness as he spoke up for the first time. "They made it look like the idea was flawed, that it would never work."

Mary smiled at Devon and nodded in genuine respect. "Wow, this is perhaps the smartest room I've ever been in," she said. "And given who I'm married to, that's pretty impressive. Devon's exactly right. It was a hard sell. He really didn't want to do it. At first he was even a little offended that I asked. He said that he was a scientist. I had to do a lot of sweet talking… and frankly a lot more than talking. Fortunately, the CIA had taught me all about how to get a man to see things your way. Although I have to admit, at the Academy I never imagined that I would ever come to enjoy it that much… but you probably don't want to hear any details about the persuasion process."

"No," Chuck said quickly. "We really don't."

Mary's smile quickly turned into a grin. "I didn't think so," she said. "Fair enough. Let it suffice to say that he finally agreed as an engagement present to me. Faking research data wasn't easy for him. It went against his idea of what a scientist was. But the idea worked. Once the CIA was convinced that the intersect idea was a practical bust, they quickly lost interest. The CIA doesn't actually ever let you resign, so I was given a leave to stay with Ted, they thought anyway. They clearly thought that I'd quickly come crawling back after I tired of him. All I had to do was check in once every quarter. For a very long time, the CIA thought that I was off the grid with Ted Roark."

"But what about Ted Roark and Fulcrum?" Chuck asked in confusion.

"Steven made a deal with him," Mary said. "Ted got control of Fulcrum and all of the commercial ideas that Steven had developed with the idea that he would continue the good work. Clearly he violated the spirit of that agreement and most of those ideas eventually became the basis for Roark Industries. He made billions off of them."

"What did Dad get?" Ellie asked.

Mary took a long moment to answer. She was obviously emotional. "He got me," she finally was able to get out. "He didn't make a very good deal, did he?"

"So," Ellie said with a growing smile as she watched her mom struggle. "Dad gave up his share of billions of dollars for the chance to get you away from the CIA and to start a life and raise a family with you?"

At first Mary tried to hide the tears. Like most agents, she hated crying for real in front of people, even her children. But that quickly proved pointless. So she finally just gave in and stood there for a long moment trying to wipe the tears that were now freely flowing down her cheeks. "Have you ever heard of anything more romantic in your whole life?" she was eventually able to ask with her lip still quivering, her voice no more than a whisper. "It's so… wow. Why would he do that, give all of that up, wealth, power… just to be with me, a broken down shell of a person?" At last she was able to gather her composure. "I'm sorry. I still can't talk about it without breaking down. Eleanor, it's why any suggestion that I would ever cheat on him set me off so much. How could you possibly hurt someone who loves you that unconditionally? Anyway, we just wanted… to be free. The deal that Steven and Ted made was that Ted would cover for us for a while if anybody came looking for me. He really didn't have to do anything. The CIA wasn't really interested anymore and they never knew about Steven Bartowski anyway. We decided to get as far away from Washington as we possibly could," she said. "So we bought a cheap car and just started driving west. I really can't tell you much about the trip, other than the nights, which you don't want to hear about anyway. I was in a daze. We really had no clue where we were going. We stopped in Vegas and got married and spent something of a honeymoon there before we kept going. When we got to Los Angeles, there wasn't any farther west to go without getting wet. So we decided to settle down there. We tried to forget that Ted Roark and Fulcrum even existed. We made a pact to never talk about him. I was floating on a cloud for that whole first year. I was feeling guilty that I was so happy. I didn't think that anyone could possibly deserve to be that happy, especially me. Frankly, I think I was pretty much constantly naked for most of those first few months."

"Mom," Ellie groaned. "Please."

"Don't worry, Eleanor," Mary said with a laugh. "In fact let's you and I make something of a deal here today. Here's what I'll do. First, I won't embarrass you with any of the details about how, after much experimentation and just plain old trial and error, I finally figured out that special thing to do to drive your dad absolutely crazy whenever I want something from him. Second, I won't describe any specifics of that amazing thing he has learned to do to get me laying there helplessly moaning, begging him to stop teasing me. In return for that restraint on my part you agree that when we get back to the farm tomorrow you'll knock on the freaking bedroom door for once when you want something before you just come bursting in. Do we have a deal?"

Ellie's face couldn't have possibly been any redder as she clearly recognized that she was being not so gently chastised by her mother for walking in on them the other day… and what the incredibly embarrassing price would be for a repeat offense. It made her feel like she was twelve again, only not in a good way. Even the bruises on her face were red. "Yes, ma'am," was all she could whisper.

Satisfied that her point had been made, Mary stepped up and wrapped a clearly shaken Ellie in her arms. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry if that sounded harsh. But I have to tell you, I haven't felt this much like a mom in years. It feels… odd… nice… but odd."

Sarah waited a long moment before saying anything. For one thing, she was immensely enjoying seeing Ellie's bonding moment with her mom. But finally she knew instinctively that it was time to step in and let her best friend off the emotional hook. "But Mom," she said. "The intersect was actually successfully developed. How did that happen?"

"You can't keep a good man down," Mary said with a soft smile as she finally released her daughter. "Steven was still brilliant. And on the west coast there was no lack of companies who wanted his genius and were willing to find creative ways to compensate him. So we found ourselves living quite comfortably. We sort of forgot about Ted and Fulcrum for a few years. And they clearly had forgotten about us. We were pretty busy building our new life. It wasn't very long before I found out that we were expecting. It was surreal. But I was in love with the idea of being Mary Bartowski. So, if you can believe it, I became the classic stay-at-home housewife. And trust me, chasing Eleanor around the house became a full time job. And when Chuck joined her, well, it became hopeless. But the intersect was always Steven's baby. It was still his life's vision to see it happen. So he built a lab under our house and kept working on it in his free time. Naturally, it went a lot slower because he didn't have the government resources. But he kept at it over the years. He built a couple of versions of prototypes with some degree of success. Then he had a breakthrough. He finally got it to the point where he was convinced it could actually be deployed and was ready for a field test."

"So what happened?" Chuck asked.

"It was our first real fight," Mary said sadly. "And it was a real barn burner. I wanted to turn the whole damn thing secretly over to the CIA and forget about it. Steven didn't trust the CIA. He wanted to revive our vision of Fulcrum. Create the organization that he'd always dreamed of, the one to help people. So for the first time since the day we met, we actually shouted at each other. His sleeping on the couch was the worst three days of my life. Finally I couldn't take it any more so I caved. My new deal with Eleanor precludes me from describing exactly how we made up, but suffice it to say that we ended up needing to repaint the kitchen. Instinctively I didn't trust Ted. I didn't want Steven close to him. So we made a plan. I told him I'd go talk to Ted, feel him out, and see what his reaction would be."

"I take it that talk didn't go well," Devon said with something of his own grin.

"It didn't go well at all," Mary replied with a sad smile. "And I rub Steven's face in it every chance I get. What we didn't know was that Fulcrum still existed. But Ted had turned it into something different. He already had all the money he could possibly use. Now he was bent on having power. He had a whole team trying to build their own intersect. But using Steven's false data, they weren't having all that much success. At first, Ted used his own money to fund Fulcrum. But finally it grew so big that even he was no longer able to do that. So they got involved with a lot of legitimate businesses but they also turned to criminal activities to finance their operations, drugs mostly. They were ruthless enough and savvy enough that they were a huge success. They became something of a quasi-military organization. They even became mercenaries for hire. They did some military proxy type jobs for some governments in South America and the Middle East. But Ted knew that Fulcrum couldn't really ever become the world political power he wanted without a working intersect. So when I walked into his office offering him exactly that, well you can imagine his reaction. I found myself quickly being held against my will."

"Okay, Mom," Chuck said with an air of growing frustration. "There is something that I don't understand. You said that you and Dad left us to protect us. But we were living in plain sight. Wouldn't this huge evil organization easily figure out that Ellie and Chuck Bartowski were your kids?"

"That one's easy," Mary said. "Fortunately, in a whole series of incredibly stupid moves, we actually did one thing right. We knew that there was always a possibility that someone would try and use the kids against us. We were actually more worried about the CIA. Anyway, we established a fake residence where everybody thought that we lived. There was no evidence of the kids there. And Bartowski is not all that uncommon of a name. So fortunately they never made the connection. We knew that once they were actively looking for us that we couldn't stay with you. We would just eventually lead them right to you."

"How did you escape?" Sarah asked.

"It took a while," Mary said. "I was held for over a month. Ted always thought of himself as this charming ladies man. Probably when you're a billionaire picking up chicks gets a lot easier. He actually spent a fair amount of time foolishly trying to seduce me into betraying Steven by offering me the material things his money could buy. But that was never going to happen in a million years so he finally gave up. He finally tried to trade me for Steven's help in getting the intersect working. Fortunately, Steven on his worst day is about a hundred times smarter than Ted is and he eventually figured out a way to rescue me. We immediately went underground. We stopped being Steven and Mary Bartowski. We became Orion and Frost and went to work learning everything we could about Fulcrum to defeat them. Trust me on this. Ted Roark hates the name Orion with a red hot passion, even more than he hates the name Sarah Walker. We've been a major pain in his ass. Naturally Orion was the brains of our operation. He kept taunting Roark from afar, giving him false clues where we were, always leading him farther and farther away from the kids. Frost's CIA training actually came in handy. She became the guerrilla fighter, constantly popping up where they least expected, ambushing them, and messing up their objectives. We became ghosts. Sometimes we were apart for weeks at a time but at least we were able to talk every day. Unfortunately, they had grown too powerful and well funded for only two people to defeat. And then there were the kids to look after. Ellie was doing so great in Medical School. Chuck had enrolled in Stanford. It looked like they had managed without us pretty nicely. But we really missed them."

Sarah watched for the second time in ten minutes as her new mother-in-law wiped tears from her eyes. "Okay," she said. "But you must have reestablished contact with the CIA at some point. They had the intersect."

"That didn't work out so well," Mary said sadly. "The CIA really wasn't any better to us than Fulcrum was. They wanted Orion to work for them and they weren't above using unsavory tactics to make that happen any more than Ted was. Steven was absolutely right about that. He also doesn't mind reminding me about that fact from time to time."

It was Sarah who finally asked. "So," she said. "How did it happen?"

Mary got a definite gleam in her eyes. "We knew that we couldn't use my old CIA contacts," she said. "Steven insisted on that. We weren't going to do anything, but Fulcrum tipped our hand. They were actually getting closer to solving the problems and having their own intersect. They say that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. So we decided to give the CIA some help. Fortunately, we knew a CIA Agent that we could go to unofficially. It seemed as though a few years before we discovered that Chuck's roommate at Stanford was being recruited as an agent. So when Steven found out that Chuck was potentially being recruited as well, he absolutely hit the roof. He doesn't get visibly mad often, but this was one time when he was throwing things around the room. I was immediately dispatched to have a 'chat' with this roommate."

"So," Chuck said with a sigh. "You talked to Bryce."

"Several times," Mary said. "My job was to impress upon him how unhappy we would become if Chuck ever got involved with the CIA. He was actually a nice, polite young man. It was a shame to have to scare him like that. And actually he didn't intimidate easily. It took a couple of demonstrations of Orion's power. But anyway, after he graduated and became a full agent we had a contact that we could trust. The only problem was his new partner. She was a real hard ass, everything exactly by the book. She was unbelievably beautiful but I don't think anyone can ever report seeing her crack a smile. The other agents were all scared to death of her. She was once the Director's personal enforcer. There are horror stories of agents that had pissed him off having, well, some rather unpleasant days. Word was that she and Graham had something more than just a professional relationship. Other than that, people were questioning her preferences."

Now it was Ellie's turn to enjoy the red that was quickly into Sarah's face. "Really?" she asked facetiously. "An agent banging the Director of the agency? Wouldn't that be improper?"

"It would be very improper," Mary replied with a grin, clearly participating fully in Ellie's sport. "But then again, Langston had something of a reputation for getting friendly with the occasional rookie agent even before he became director. I actually knew him fairly well. He and I trained together. He never made a move on me. I guess he was said to have a thing for blondes."

"I never had any improper relationship with Langston Graham," Sarah protested in a huff. "And I certainly never 'banged' him. For one thing, he's older than my dad. I could never figure out where those rumors got started but I've been listening to them for almost ten years now. They aren't true. And if he was ever trying to get me to 'bang' him, he sure as hell didn't go about it the right way. He was pretty tough on me. He was a mentor to me, nothing more."

That got Ellie and Mary laughing. "Relax, Sarah," Mary finally said. "We're just teasing you a little… about the banging part anyway. You did have a reputation for being a by-the-book hard ass, but I suppose you already knew that. That's why we insisted that Bryce never tell you about the intersect. It's also why we were less than enthusiastic to watch while you were so clearly falling for our son. We were always worried about that lack of professionalism and if you were the right person to protect him. I hope you'll forgive us that miscalculation."

Sarah nodded, fairly curtly, but she nodded.

"I think that brings us more or less up to date," Mary said. "So now you understand our family history… and why it's so important that no one falls to Fulcrum. The Ring has to be dealt with. But Fulcrum's next. Now, let's go to dinner and see if we can smile a little before we have to leave." Then she turned to Sarah. "Can you stay behind for a second?"

Chuck didn't know what to do. So he just stood there awkwardly.

"Don't worry, Chuck," Mary said with a comforting smile. "She'll survive for two minutes without holding your hand. We'll be down in a second. I promise. I'd just really like to talk to my new daughter-in-law in private for a second."

As soon as the door closed behind Chuck, Mary turned to Sarah. "I wasn't kidding about not wanting you with Chuck or questioning your professionalism," she said. "I'm every bit as protective of him as you are. I hope you're not expecting an apology for that because you're not about to get one."

Sarah didn't really know what to expect from her first one-on-one discussion with Mary… but she certainly wasn't expecting this much overt harshness. There was really not much she could say. Clearly she was going to struggle forming a relationship with Chuck's mom. That would make things tense. But what could she do? The quick answer to her own question was not a damn thing. So she just stood silently.

"It's even worse than that," Mary continued. "In fact, you're perhaps the last person on earth I would have picked for him to become involved with. I knew that it was only a matter of time before you crushed him. I tried in every way that I could think of to get you reassigned. When Bryce told Chuck that he was going to get you hurt, he was acting on my direct instructions. I also had him contact the CIA and formally request a 49B be conducted. When that was denied, I had him go to Beckman personally and file a formal appeal."

Now the unwanted tears were filling Sarah's eyes. This wasn't going badly. It was several notches worse than that. It was hard to see how they would be able to be in the same room going forward. So much for Thanksgiving dinner.

"But here's the thing," Mary finally said softly. "I've never been more wrong about anything in my whole life. There is something that you should probably know about me. I don't much like being wrong. Steven can attest to that. And I like admitting it even less. But I've misjudged you. You're actually pretty much perfect for him. So I honestly hope that you'll forgive me."

Sarah just nodded, more in relief than anything as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"But you're wrong about something too," Mary said. Then responding to Sarah's look she smiled. "He's my baby boy," she said softly. "I hope someday soon, you'll understand clearly what that means. But let's face it, Sarah, you don't yet. And, yes, I'll admit that I probably also haven't overwhelmed you with my dazzling array of amazing mothering skills. But I held him on the day he was born. I watched him say his first words, take his first steps, ride his first bike. It might not look like it, but I have watched over him pretty much constantly for the past twenty years. There hasn't been a single day where I haven't worried about him, even before the intersect blasted him in the head. I have to admit, you've done an amazing job of protecting him. I need to thank you for that. You're a pretty tough bad ass yourself. But whatever help you ever need from me, be assured, you're going to get it. I promise you that."

Sarah didn't know what to say. 'Thanks' seemed inappropriate somehow. So she just reached out and grabbed the hand that Mary was extending to her and squeezed.

Mary's face showed her obvious relief. "Now," she said. "Let's talk about the real reason I asked you to stay behind. Talk to me about this Carina."

"Do I have to kick her ass?"

x-x-x-x-x


	43. Sarah's Seduction School

_Don't let the title of this chapter concern you. I wanted to take a moment and possibly explain a point that I believe many readers misinterpret. _

_I've gotten a lot of comments about Mary. In the show, unless there is something major that we don't know about, she is almost impossible to like. The way we understand the story as of now, she left her husband with two small kids without a hint of where she was to go on a CIA mission that ended up lasting twenty years. During that time she became the right hand of the biggest criminal in the world, someone who supplied nuclear weapons to rogue countries. Moreover, she never came close to her objective in those twenty years. Her son spent a couple of days on the job and solved the problem. Her excuse, to the extent that she had one was… oops. It's hard for me to believe that the writers would make her that unlikable, and then expect us to buy the kids accepting her back with open arms. So I attempted to tell her story in a way that makes her a tad more sympathetic. Do I expect the show to ever reconcile that seemingly contradictory story? Not really._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Sarah's Seduction School**

x-x-x-x-x

_She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is a woman, therefore to be won. - William Shakespeare_

x-x-x-x-x

After Mom and Ellie left for the red-eye flight back home, Chuck and Sarah had both gotten ready for bed in silence. It had been a long, emotional day. And tomorrow was sure to even be longer and more emotional. Naturally, lying in bed Sarah immediately knew why he was being so quiet. It was that obvious. It was hard for her to get mad at Mom and Ellie. They were clearly just teasing. But it's one reason that she had avoided the topic with Chuck up to now. Not that there was any question of his right to know everything. He had every right. It's just that she wasn't exactly sure how to explain it to him in a way that wouldn't cause him more discomfort. Hell, she wasn't sure that she understood it herself.

A week ago she would have just let him sleep on it and perhaps talked to him in the morning. But Mom's story reminded her how precious every minute was. So she decided to preempt it. "Look, Chuck," she said softly as she turned on her side to snuggle into him. "About Langston Graham, I'll admit that my relationship with him was a bit complicated. I know that it bothers you. It's a little hard for me to talk about… but he helped me a lot. He took me under his wing, was a mentor to me, almost like a father figure. I never would have made it through training if not for him. I probably would have ended up on a street corner someplace. He took a plain, bashful high school kid and turned her into… well, me. He taught me so many things, like what clothes to buy, what kind of makeup to wear, and how to wear my hair. And yes, some of those things could be considered personal, intimate, and maybe even a bit on the creepy side. Looking back, was he creating his dream girl? Carina and Zondra always said that he was setting me up to repay him by being available for him someday in some long term physical way. Maybe. I'll admit that it is entirely possible. I owed him a lot, so it would have been hard for me to turn him down almost no matter what he would have asked of me. I did do some things for him when he first became Director and was looking to prove himself that were maybe outside of official protocol. That had some people talking. I acquired something of a reputation. They called me his enforcer, never to my face mind you. I'll admit that I maybe enjoyed it a bit more than I should have when people were afraid of me. But he never asked me for anything personal… and certainly nothing sexual. Trust me, he had plenty of chances but it never happened. If it had, I would tell you about it."

Chuck's laugh burst Sarah's concern like a soap bubble. "Why in the world would you think that would bother me?" he asked. "Okay, so the CIA Academy isn't exactly Sesame Street. I get that. You've been taught some things that I might have preferred you learned through experimentation with me. And, oh no, Graham might have suggested to you what kind of panties to wear once? Sorry, I've got more pressing things to be worried about then to be jealous of what might have happened between you and your mentor, Langston Graham ten years ago. The poor man is dead. You've already told me all about everything in your past that could possibly cause me any angst, right?"

Now Sarah was confused, relieved, but confused. There was even some pride in there someplace. Chuck had really grown in the past month. Here was an opportunity for him to be jealous, maybe legitimately so. After all, here was a man who once controlled almost every aspect of her life. And yet he turned it down cold. But there was also the fact that she never liked the feeling that Chuck was making fun of her… and his laugh was on the very edge of that. "Okay," she said with a nod, perhaps with a little more edge in her voice than she intended. "That's good, I guess. So if it's not that, then what is bothering you?"

At first Chuck tried to laugh it off. "What makes you think…" but then he was halted in mid sentence by her skeptical look. "You're not going to let me get away with that, are you?"

"Never," Sarah said with something of a growing smile, suddenly her mood turned around at being able to turn the tables on him. "Now you can either tell me what's bothering you willingly… right now… or I can break out some of that Sesame Street training and come up with a way or two to get it out of you."

"You're really making this a hard decision. I might want to see that," Chuck said as they both shared a laugh. But then he got serious. "Ted Roark and my mom," he finally said softly. "That sounds so much like you and me that it's scary. She slept with him. She said that he demanded it. That's more than a little creepy. Be honest with me. Could I have demanded sex from you? Made you my toy? How would I have done that?"

At first Sarah tried to laugh it off. "That wasn't very likely, was it?" she asked sarcastically. "We're married and I can't get you to demand sex from me." But much like he was just a moment ago, she was suddenly halted by his distressed look. "I'm sorry," she quickly said. "Sweetie, I'm not making fun of you. Are you sure that you really want to talk about this? It might get a bit uncomfortable."

Chuck didn't answer. He just nodded.

Sarah sat up, propped her back against the headboard, and indicated for Chuck to do the same. "Okay, Chuck," she said "If I'm going to talk to you about seduction missions, can we keep it theoretical for a while? It quickly gets too weird when we're talking about us or about your mom. Like most people, you have it all wrong about the sex thing. An agent's job is not to be a sex toy for her mark. I understand that it might look like that sometimes. But if that was all there was the CIA would just hire a hooker. They're cheaper and require less training. An agent's real job is not to keep her mark entertained. It's to keep him controlled. Sex is only a very small part of that. Tell me, sweetie. When is a man most controlled?"

Chuck just looked at her. "I'm stumped," he said. "When he's in a cell?"

"Well that's true, but it's usually not practical," Sarah admitted. "If you can keep him locked up, you really don't need an agent. What we're talking about is keeping a man controlled when he isn't aware that it's happening. A man is most vulnerable when he's in love. Men are easy. When they're in love they'll do the silliest things, give up their secrets, betray their cause, or even try and figure out what she wants and do it almost without being asked. They might even stay in the damn car when they're supposed to. An agent's job is to make her mark fall in love with her. Or at the very least, make him like her being around and not want to lose her. That's whatSeductionSchoolteaches you, how to make him quickly fall in love with you. They figure that you pretty much already knew how to get him in bed and what to do once you got him there."

"So," Chuck said, ignoring her not so subtle shot. "Sex is a way to get him to fall in love?"

"It's just a small part," Sarah said. "Oh, I'll not deny that at first it's more to get him interested, the hook as it were. Most men wouldn't turn down a beautiful woman they just met who is willing to sleep with him. But it doesn't work unless you can get him to the next level. If it's just sex, he's not controlled. You have to connect with him on multiple levels, laugh at his jokes, empathize with his problems, and share his dreams. There's a saying that they told us over and over in training about the three F's. You have to keep your mark well flattered, well fed, and well…" Sarah trailed off with something of an embarrassed smile. "Well, you're a smart guy. You can probably guess the last F on your own. Anyway the point is that the last one doesn't work without the others. You have to make him think that you're falling for him too. Carina has been working her current mark for just a few days now. I guarantee that, as we speak, he is in love with her… and he's absolutely sure that she is in love with him. That's why she is going to be able to talk him into the most blatant violation of his duty. When she shows up tonight, he won't be all that surprised. She's just someone who misses her man. He'll think that it's sweet."

"Carina is pretending to be interested?" Chuck asked incredulously. "I thought that you said that his guy was something of a slime ball. Didn't he come on to you?"

"Only a couple of thousand times," Sarah said with a sigh. "Carina is much more than pretending to be interested. She is simply the best at this of anybody I know. She's become his dream girl… in every way that you can imagine."

"So, Ted Roark…" Chuck started.

"Thinks that Agent Frost is in love with him," Sarah quickly finished his statement. "Or he once did anyway. Oh, the first few times, it was just pure recreational sex for him. He knew full well that she was an agent. He thought he was being rewarded for a job well done. He might have thought that he was demanding something from her, but trust me, she was always in control. She quickly made him feel that she was falling for him. She probably started that process by joking with him, telling him how much she was beginning to enjoy her work. After a few days, she would 'confess' to him that this was becoming more than a job for her, something that she was looking forward too, and that if she was found out, she'd get in big trouble. That's why it was such a hard time for her. Imagine having to pretend that you're in love with someone like Ted Roark, with everything you'd have to do to keep up that illusion with him, and all the while be falling for real for someone else. That's about as bad as it gets for an agent."

As much as the thought of his mom seducing someone else was creepy, Chuck was more concerned about Sarah. She had told him all about the few times that she had been in that spot. He knew that she felt guilty… and she had no need. He needed to let her know that her past was just that, history. So he just reached over and grabbed her hand.

Fortunately Sarah completely recognized the gesture… and was very appreciative. But she also knew that it was important that he understand. "You're upset at your mom," she said. "It's okay. There is nothing wrong with admitting that."

"Okay," Chuck finally said. "Yes. It's hard to think of your own mom being so heartless. I guess I am a little upset with her."

"How about me?" Sarah asked. "If you're upset with Mom, you must be upset with me as well. That's also okay. Let's get it on the table."

"Why would I be upset with you?" Chuck asked. "You're nothing like my mom."

Sarah just stood for a long moment and shook her head sadly. "I need for you to understand something," she finally said. "You clearly don't want to deal with this. I'm not really all that eager to rub it in your face. But if we're going to be married for the next sixty years, there is something that we simply have to admit to each other. There was a time when I was exactly like her, probably worse. I'm not any more… and I don't ever want to be again… but I was. When we met you were just fooled by the wholesome and innocent persona that Langston created. Don't be. Everything that you're upset with your mom about with Ted Roark, I've done. There are men who were just as convinced that I was in love with them once as you are right now. And when my mission was over I was gone without a trace. So maybe I didn't use seduction as often or with nearly as much enthusiasm as someone like Carina did. It was actually my last choice. I usually volunteered for the more dangerous missions to avoid that kind of thing. But it was always a weapon that I had ready. And when it was required I did it with zero guilt. If I wasn't so worried that it was hurting you, I'd have to say that I'm somewhat proud of the work I have done. I've saved many, many lives. But I've changed since I met you. I'm no longer that person. I see myself now as not so much Sarah, but more like half of Chuck and Sarah. I actually like that half-of-Chuck-and-Sarah person. I could never hope to be able to seduce anyone like that again. It simply wouldn't work. The mark would laugh at me."

"Okay," Chuck said skeptically. "If that's true, then what happened with us two years ago? Why didn't I get this stud treatment from the stone cold super spy? Is there something wrong with me?"

Sarah looked away for a long moment. "Do you believe in love at first sight?" she finally asked softly.

At first Chuck thought the question was rhetorical. But then he realized that she was asking for real. "No," he said. "Not really. I think that love is too special for it to happen that quickly. The idea of love at first sight demeans what I would call love."

"Me either," Sarah said. "But then again, I didn't even believe in love at the time. So I'm probably not the best example. But the answer to your question is that you were going to. If Casey hadn't interrupted our first date my plan was to have it end in my hotel room with me screwing your brains out as many times and in as many different ways as I could talk you into. I already had the wine and condoms sitting beside my bed. I would have put a bashful look on my face and told you that I never had slept with a man on the first date before but I couldn't help myself with you. When I looked into your big brown eyes, I just lost control. When you finally walked out of that room three days later, you would have been my love sick intersect slave… exhausted, a perpetual smile on your face, but a slave nonetheless. That's when I would have admitted to you that I was an agent, but that this wasn't like work for me, that I was falling hard and fast. It would have been a piece of cake. Let's face it, Chuck. You would have fallen for that… hook, line, and sinker. One good thing about it, you would have always stayed in the car for me."

Again, Chuck ignored the shot. "Why didn't you do that?" he asked.

"I should have," Sarah said. "That was the plan. While you were sitting on the beach that night I was getting screamed at pretty good on the phone for about an hour. Graham was pissed. And he never was very good at hiding it. He told me in very clear terms that he expected me to haul your ass back to the hotel and do my job or he was going to pull me off the assignment that very night. I had to do some pretty sweet talking to talk him into doing it my way. And honestly, I'm maybe the only agent who could have convinced him. But after Casey's little adventure, you already knew that I was an agent. In the little that we talked on our date, I knew that you weren't like most men. You wouldn't want sex under those circumstances. It would have backfired. You would have quickly figured out what I was doing and resented it. Besides, you were already more than a little freaked out on the beach that night as it was."

"Okay," Chuck said softly. "Graham actually bought that? He had a softer spot for you than you're telling me. So what's the real reason?"

That actually got a faint smile. "You're really going to make me say this to you, aren't you?" she asked. "You really want a sappy romantic scene? Okay, because I liked you. Are you happy now? Stone cold, by the book, Agent Sarah Walker violated the first rule of being a spy that night. I allowed my personal feelings to interfere with my assignment. I'm not even sure what it was myself. It wouldn't be right to call it love at first sight but from that very first minute I liked you. As I stood there watching you help that little girl recreate her dance, I said to myself that I had just met a nice guy. And in my line of work that just doesn't happen. Maybe it was like-at-first-sight. An agent knows going in that they are setting the mark up for a big heartbreak when he finds out that the woman he just fell in love with has been playing him. It's pounded into your head that you shouldn't feel guilty about it, that the mark has it coming."

But to her surprise, Chuck didn't smile. "Do you really think that anybody has that coming?" he asked without any hint of humor. "That seems cruel beyond the pale."

Sarah was frankly taken aback by his tone. And she couldn't stand it when he was upset with her. "I don't know," she finally sighed. "I don't think that you fully understand who we're talking about here. Good guys, nice guys like you usually don't get CIA handlers. They're mostly evil demanding men with some nasty secret that the agency wants protected. But here I was looking at this nice, cute guy who could make me laugh. I knew that you didn't deserve that. I just couldn't do it to you. Please don't be mad at me."

Chuck did a double take at her sudden vulnerability and put his arm around her protectively. She quickly snuggled into his shoulder. "I'm not mad at you," he said. "Why would you think that? If I'm mad at anyone, it's at the CIA. They take the most basic of human emotions and use them against you. They take young, bright, wonderful people and use their dedication to brainwash them into something less than human. Then they use them in unbelievably horrible ways. I hate them."

Sarah was silent for a long moment. "I understand how you feel," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "And I find it hard to argue against your conclusions. But I always thought I was doing the right thing. If the world didn't have us, it would be a more dangerous, much more evil place. Maybe I am less than human. But, Chuck, I'm really trying."

Chuck looked at her in horror. "Oh my God," he said. "That didn't come out right. If you thought that I was saying that you're less than human, I'm so, so sorry. You're perfect. I wouldn't change a thing about you. I just get a little crazy when I think about how you've been used. Where do my parents come off judging you? Testing you? Trying to get you reassigned? It's the height of hypocrisy."

"You don't understand them any better than you understand me," Sarah said sadly. "You don't get what it is that I'm trying to tell you here at all. If you did, you'd realize that your parents were right to be worried for you. They saw you falling for a woman who plays men for a living. Of course they would be concerned. In a strange sort of way, I'm happy that they have been so skeptical of me. They were just protecting someone who they love. And in doing that they were also protecting someone who I love… more than I could ever imagine is possible. I'm glad that they were looking out for you."

"But you're not playing me," Chuck said. "They have to realize that."

Sarah stayed silent for a long moment. "I think that they do now," she said. "I actually think that I'm going to have a good relationship with your parents, probably in some ways better than you do. But listen to me for a minute. I know that you don't get a lot of what I'm saying because you don't want to believe it, but please get this. The last, the very last thing I want is for you to ever think I'm playing you as a mark. I'm still a little sensitive to that thought, maybe too sensitive. I understand that you weren't calling me less than human. I'm sorry. I… Chuck, I'm a little freaked out about tomorrow. You're my husband. I'm so grateful to have you. I never want to do anything ever again to make you feel uncomfortable, but I also have to do what it takes for the mission. You know what that means. It will be the first time since we've been married."

Chuck didn't say anything. He just rubbed her back affectionately. "Don't worry about me tomorrow," he said. "We've been all through this. I know that we need two different access key cards to get to the President. Carina can only get us one. The mission depends on it. I'll live with a little flirting from you."

"You asked me about sex earlier," Sarah said, more just to change the subject than anything. "If you could have demanded it. Here's the thing. You couldn't have demanded it. Ted Roark only thinks he was the one who demanded it. Now when could you have gotten it? I really don't know the answer myself. All I do know is that after a few days, I started to really like you. You were quickly breaking through walls that I had spent years building. Frankly that scared me. Casey called me on it the very first week we were together. I tried to tell myself that it was just a temporary infatuation. I told myself over and over that I just wasn't used to being around someone who was genuinely sweet, honestly cared for me as a person, and could make me laugh. I almost convinced myself that it would fade. But that didn't work out very well. I fought and fought myself to not fall. It went against every single thing I believed in. I even got mad at you for a while, like it was your fault. I found myself trying to think of ways that I could make it happen and not mess things up. That's when I knew. So finally I admitted the awful truth to myself. For the very first time in my life, I was in love with someone. And not just with someone, probably the worst possible person I could be in love with, the one person I could never be with."

That got a bit of a smile. "When did that happen?" he asked.

"I'd known for a long time that my feelings were inappropriate," Sarah said. "But I remember that night in the suburbs when I watched the CIA crew packing away the props from that house. When I saw them take away the dog and I had to give them our wedding rings. I never wanted anything more in whole life. It's when I realized that I was going to love you for the rest of my life no matter what happened with us. The reality is there were several times before that, if you had made a pass, it would have happened. If I'm going to be completely honest, there were times when I was hoping that you would but praying that you wouldn't. That wouldn't have been a good thing…"

"Because you would have had to deal with it after," Chuck finished her sentence. "I get that."

Sarah nodded. "There would have been no way to keep up any illusions after that," she said. "I would have had to leave. But here's the real irony. The more I resisted doing anything physical with you, the more I found myself falling. The very same things that I was trained to do to fake it were the things that I was dying to do for real. Every day, for two years, I found myself a little more in love with you, every single day. At the end, I was so tied up in knots that I had no clue what to do. I was actually so confused that I thought about leaving a couple of times. I was packed that night when Bryce first came back. But I just couldn't make myself walk out the door. After that, I stopped pretending to myself that it was even possible. And you were no help, always asking me for more with those puppy dog eyes when I had no way of giving it to you… and always in front of cameras so I couldn't say anything. I felt trapped. Thank God for Ellie. Maybe that's why I overcompensate now with sex so much. It's like I'm trying to make up for treating you so badly."

"I don't think I'd say that you're _over_ compensating," Chuck said with a growing smile. "In fact I think you might actually have room to compensate even a little more. And as long as we're having this conversation, I fully expect you to make it up to me for any flirting that happens on our mission tomorrow… with interest."

That got the gleam back in Sarah's eyes. "Don't worry," she said. "I was simply pointing out that I'm aware of why I'm overcompensating. I have no intention of actually stopping. And I fully intend on making tomorrow's mission up to you. I already have something special planned for our victory celebration that I'd like to keep a surprise. But I'm still very sensitive to the thought of appearing to play you. It's why I get so excited whenever you make the first move. I've even bit my tongue and held off on telling you how great I was feeling sometimes because it would have been exactly what Agent Walker would have told her mark. That's unfair isn't it? I'll… Chuck, I'm really sorry. I'll stop doing that."

"Well I guess so," Chuck said in mock annoyance. "After some of the efforts I've made… and I don't even get praised? I might start to develop a complex."

So she reached over and gently kissed him. "I'll tell you what," she said. "You're making me feel guilty here. This might be too little, too late. I probably can't put into words how you make me feel anyway. And not just the sex, you make me feel loved. But if you will break out some of your Morgan porn moves and make me forget my own name tonight, I promise to give it my very best effort to fully praise you afterwards. Do we have a deal?"

"Not yet," he said as he reached behind her head and pulled her in for a much more urgent kiss. "Not until you understand something. You might think that I don't understand but you're wrong. It's not that the other half of Chuck and Sarah doesn't understand about your past. I do understand. It's that I don't care. All I care about is now."

There was nothing that Sarah needed to hear more than that in her whole life. How did he always know? She was so relieved that it didn't register for a second that he was suddenly aggressive… but she certainly wasn't going to put up any protest. She felt herself instantly grow more and more excited when she felt him tugging at her nightshirt. So she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her mouth to his in an almost violent kiss, and lifted her arms to wordlessly allow him to throw it to the floor.

"I called you less than human," Chuck said between kisses as began to make his way down her neck. "That was totally unacceptable. The fact of the matter is that you're simply perfect. I never, ever want you to think anything else. I never want you to think that I'm taking you for granted. I fully understand how hard those times were for you. I'm so grateful that you took a chance on us."

All Sarah could do was grin as he continued his frustratingly slow trip south. "It took me way too long," she said. "I'm not sure why you're the one who appears to be overcompensating, but I'm just going to relax and go with it."

Chuck paused for a second to look up at her with a grin as he hooked his fingers into her waistband and make a huge show of slowly sliding down her briefs. "Get my praise ready," he said mischievously. "I do believe that I have something to prove here."

"Now we have a deal."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie stood outside her parent's room debating with herself. Oh, there was no question that she was going to knock first before going in. That much had been made exceedingly clear. For one thing, she had no desire to see what so painfully obviously was going on in there. After all, they had only been back a few hours. And Mom had spent most of the eight hour flight teasing Ellie as much as possible while still staying within the boundaries of their new deal. But then again, now that she knew the whole story, it was a little cute. In fact, had it not been her parents she would have found the story incredibly romantic. And maybe it wasn't so bad. After all, one had to admit, it was much better to know that your parents were still fiercely in love than to have them divorced like most of her friends parents were, right?

Misty wanted to go down to the lake and just hang out for the afternoon. And that actually sounded good. But Ellie still felt like a teenager asking for permission to go to the mall. Oh, she knew she didn't actually need permission. But it did make sense to let then know where they would be, especially with the security situation the way it was. So she just took a deep breath and knocked.

"Eleanor," Mary said with a grin as soon as Ellie was granted access and had stepped into the room. "What a… surprise. See, this knocking thing isn't half bad, is it?"

Ellie ignored the good natured shot. "Where's Dad?" she asked as she looked around the room. Then she quickly noticed Mom's evil grin. "If you going to tell me that he's filling up the tub, I swear I'll scream."

But Mom just laughed. "Don't worry, Eleanor," she said. "We save the tub for… well, for special occasions."

Suddenly Ellie realized where Dad was. "He doesn't want to see me," she said. "Does he?"

"It's not like that," Mom said softly. "He just doesn't want you to see him cry. And when he looks at your face like that…"

Ellie finally understood. "That's really sweet," she said with a sad smile. "Tell him that I'm fine, that this isn't his fault."

"I will," Mom said. "I've already tried. I'm afraid he doesn't see it that way. It would be nice if he could hear that from you, maybe later tonight. Don't worry about your dad. He'll be fine. He's just a little protective of his baby girl. He always has been. If you're going to the lake, please have Misty take a weapon. We want to be extra careful."

"I will," Ellie said. "Tell Dad that I want to talk to him after dinner. I have some ideas about the intersect that I'd like to bounce off him. I'll make sure that he knows."

Ellie definitely had to blink some tears out of her eyes before meeting Misty outside. It felt odd to have her parents around… after so many years of being without them. And for them to show so much obvious concern, maybe there was more to this story than she had always assumed. She suddenly felt fourteen again. It was downright strange.

Strange… but nice.

x-x-x-x-x

Ted Roark sat at his desk studying the surveillance pictures that his assistant had just handed him. "Do you know who this is?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, sir," he quickly responded. "It's Agent Frost. When they got off the flight, we tracked them to a farm house in Virginia."

"Are you sure that she wasn't aware of the tail?" Roark asked.

"Yes, sir," he said. "For all of her reputation, she didn't give us much trouble. We were able to plant a device on the rental car. So we could hang back and easily track them. It's going to be very difficult to attack their location openly. It's really desolate. They'll be able to see us coming for over a mile."

"Do not underestimate her," Roark said firmly. "Lots of men who have are now feeding the worms. Keep your men out of sight. We can't tip them off that we know where they are. Use long range aerial surveillance only. As soon as they destroy The Ring for us we'll mount an overwhelming attack. I want them alive."

As soon as the man left the room, Roark picked up the picture and studied it closely. Well, Mary," he said with a grin. "It looks like you just might get another chance to make things up to me."

"I've been looking for you and your husband for a long time."

x-x-x-x-x


	44. A Different Kind of Love

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**A Different Kind of Love**

x-x-x-x-x

_Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love. - Erich Fromm_

x-x-x-x-x

Jeff McKnight sat in his hotel room… bored out of his mind. And the odd thing is that most times he would have looked forward to a foreign trip. After all, it tended to be pretty easy duty. Being the chief officer in the President's Secret Service detail was often a fairly tense job. But foreign trips were different. When the foreign country was friendly and trusted they almost always assumed all of the heavy lifting in securing the venue whenever a head of state was visiting, even when it was the President of the United States. That actually made sense. It was their turf. They knew the local threats much better. So the Secret Service was limited to a six person personal detail that was always in the immediate area where the President was. Even that was mostly for show. MI-6 was as good as it got. And they had the location as locked down as Jeff had ever seen. Nobody bad ever got remotely close. Even he had to go through four different checkpoints to report to work. But even that show meant eighteen agents. After all, the President required round the clock protection.

So it was usually a mini vacation of sorts, paid for by the good taxpayers. And typically, he would be spending his off duty hours down in the hotel bar seeing if he could persuade one of the local ladies into coming up to this very room and showing him the color and design of her panties. It hardy ever failed, being part of the American Secret Service seemed to impress them much more than it did the babes back home.

But for some reason he didn't feel much like being part of that bar pickup scene tonight. It wasn't that he wasn't in the mood to see some sweet young thing's panties, he most definitely was. It's just that he had the sweet young thing already picked out. Unfortunately, she was currently about a million miles away.

Jeff actually winced a little when he thought about Carina. After all, he wasn't the falling-in-love type. Falling in love was for suckers. It made you do foolish things. But he had to smile a little as he was forced to admit to himself… she could very well be the one. At first blush, she didn't look the part at all - a spoiled rich girl living off daddy's money and completely used to getting her own way. Oh, she was drop dead gorgeous. There was zero question about that. And that in itself represented something a bit unusual for Jeff. He rarely scored with the cute ones… and almost never with the gorgeous ones. He typically set his sights a bit lower on the food chain. But he connected with Carina that first night. And not the sex. Okay, so not only the sex. Carina was his dream girl in every way one could imagine. She just seemed to get him.

It was clear that Carina was falling too. He could just tell that they clicked. It was the little things. Most women groaned at his off color jokes. They just didn't get his sense of humor. She giggled whenever he told one. In fact, they were pretty much perfect together. When he was in the mood to laugh, she joked. When he was in the mood to drink, well she had proved that she could drink him under the table. When he was in the mood to talk, she actually understood world events better than he did.

But all of that paled when it came to the bedroom. It was nothing short of magical. There was nothing that fazed her. Suggestions that would have had other women suddenly remembering why they had to get home, Carina was all over. The truth was she was actually less inhibited than he was, maybe even a little on the kinky side. Her latest game was seeing how outrageous a place they could screw without getting caught. And they had come close a few times. The back row of that theater was the closest so far. He wondered why she would want him to go to see Puss and Boot in 3D. It didn't seem like her kind of thing at all. Now Jeff knew better. She didn't mean the movie.

But Jeff sighed. Carina wasn't here. He wasn't going to see her for another three days. So all that was left was some room service and a pay-per-view movie here in the room. He was looking through the selection when the knock came at the door. But really, what did it matter which movie he picked? They were all the same anyway. At least he could enjoy his dinner in peace.

But fate had other plans for Jeff tonight. And a room service dinner in peace was not in those plans, at least not any time soon. Because when he opened the door Carina suddenly had her arms wrapped around his neck pressing her face to his.

"Carina," Jeff said as soon as he could pry his mouth free. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't that pretty obvious?" Carina moaned between very wet sloppy kisses. "If you have to ask that question, I must not be doing it right. Maybe I should be a little less subtle." Then she took one hand as slid it provocatively down his side, finally stopping as she rubbed the outside of his pants. "Would you consider this a hint?" she purred. "I have to say, this is an odd place to carry your gun. I thought you were off duty." Then she pulled back with something of an evil grin and began to fumble with his belt. "Or are you just really happy to see me? Now I'm curious which one it is. You don't mind if I check for myself, do you?"

"I didn't mean that," Jeff said. "I meant why are you here in England? How did you find me?"

"I'm surprising you, silly," Carina said as she reached down into his now unfastened pants. "Daddy got tired of me moping around and told me to get out of the country. Tell me, are you surprised? Well I'm not. It feels like you're pretty happy to see me."

"Don't worry. Tonight's your night."

x-x-x-x-x

Okay, so maybe this Misty wasn't that bad of a person after all. One thing was for sure, she was easy to be around. Ellie thought that with working in an Emergency Room she had heard it all. It turns out that she hadn't heard anything close to it all. Apparently Vegas cocktail waitresses had daily experiences that ER doctors could only imagine. Misty quickly had her in stitches with the stories of all the lame ways that she had been hit on by horny drunks in the casino. And then again, there were a handful of clever ways. A couple even worked… good enough for dinner and drinks anyway.

It turned out that Devon was right. Ellie knew that it was going to be a challenge to get him to not gloat about it… but he was definitely right. If she and Misty would only spend some time together, it was inevitable that they would become close friends. And this was the perfect place for bonding. Naturally the lake was beyond fabulous. It wasn't nearly enough to get her to stop worrying about her family and the danger they were all in, but it was fabulous.

Ellie couldn't wait to get Devon down here once this nightmare was all over. He would love this, especially the view. Too bad that he was the only one who hadn't seen it yet… the lake that is. Actually, he would probably love the view a little too much. Although she had to admit there was really no reason why Misty and her had to wear their t-shirts. There was nobody around and they were pretty uncomfortable once they got wet. But still… damn… It definitely made Ellie feel a little… umm, under-equipped. Then again, Devon had already seen the particular view of Misty's assets anyway, far more than his normal quota anyway. So maybe it wasn't anything to worry about.

After their long swim they spread out their blankets and silently relaxed, allowing the hot sun to dry them, and maybe get something of a tan. "So," Misty finally sighed. "You're the expert in these things. What am I going to do with him?"

Ellie wasn't surprised by the question. She had been waiting for it. She frankly was surprised that it had taken this long. But she was doubly surprised by the vulnerability in Misty's voice. Oh, she knew right away what she was talking about. And at first Ellie tried to keep the mood light. "What do you want to do with him?" she asked with a teasing smile. "I'm a little surprised that you haven't already thought about this, but sex might just work." Then she noticed Misty's pained expression and quickly realized that this wasn't the time for teasing. So she reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was just teasing you. I'm not making fun of you. You have it bad, huh?"

Misty was clearly struggling to blink the tears out of her eyes. "I'm going to get hurt," she finally said softly. "Maybe I should just end it. I simply can't compete with… with…"

It's funny. Even though Misty didn't complete her thought, Ellie knew exactly what she thought that she was competing with, the things that you first thought about when you thought about John, duty, honor, the job… and she was right about that. There was no way to compete with those things. But there was also no need. "You're wrong about some things," she said. "He has it just as bad as you do. Trust me on this. If anyone is going to get hurt here, it's him."

Now it was Misty's turn to be surprised. "Why would he get hurt?" she asked. "I lo… umm, I care for him. I'm not going to hurt him."

"Maybe," Ellie said softly. "Not on purpose anyway. But how long are you going to be satisfied wanting things that you're never going to get?"

"What do you think that I want?" Misty asked sadly. "Romance? Forget it. I've tried. Casey doesn't have a romantic bone in his body."

"I guess that depends on what you mean by romance," Ellie protested. "Believe me. I do understand what you're saying. And okay, if you're talking about long walks holding each other's hand in the moonlight or bringing you flowers and gazing lovingly into your eyes under candlelight for hours, then you're right. Casey simply doesn't have that in him. Even if he tried, it wouldn't go well. It would just be him faking it. Sweetie, if you need that, and a lot of girls do, then I'm sorry. You're not going to get it from him. You should move on now before it really gets hard for both of you."

Misty just nodded as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"But maybe you should consider something before you drink that big cup of hemlock," Ellie said with a smile. "You've never struck me as being like a lot of girls. You see the big picture better than anybody I've ever met. And there is a different kind of romance. Now it's true that Casey might never write romantic poems and read them to you, but you'll never hope to meet anyone as loving and loyal. It's just that he'll express it to you in a different way. He'll put you on a pedestal, absolutely worship you, and kick anybody's ass who would ever dare to so much as scowl in your general direction. Oh there will be annoying things. He'll probably always need your help to remember your birthday and anniversary. On the other hand you'll see his face light up a little every single time he comes through the door just because he's genuinely happy to see you. He probably will never suggest that you go out for dress up nights of diner and dancing. On the other hand, when he takes you to the shooting range you'll know that he's sharing his favorite thing in the world with his favorite person. He'll probably not gaze into your eyes and tell you how beautiful you are very often. On the other hand he would never imagine looking at another woman, he'll never treat you with anything other than respect, and in bed your satisfaction will always be more important to him than his. And it goes without saying that he would throw himself in front of a bus to protect you without even thinking about it. You'll probably have to live without hearing too many I-love-you's from him unless you say it first. On the other hand he won't have to say it. He'll prove it to you every single day by the way he acts. For the rest of your life there will never be a wish so outrageous that he won't try his level best to make come true for you. So John is a different sort of man. He's going to require you to temper some expectations you maybe have always had. On the other hand, he's in love with you. I sort of think that's pretty romantic. I would say that, all things considered, you're pretty lucky."

That got a smile through her tears. "Do you think so?" Misty asked. "He's never said anything like that."

"He probably never will," Ellie said. Then she responded to Misty's look with a grin. "At least not until you say it first. That wouldn't be John, would it? But I don't think. I'm absolutely positive. You're all he could talk about yesterday. He's really worried about you. He wanted me to make sure that I told you that Carina wasn't sharing a room with him at all, that she was off playing her mark. I've come to know John pretty well. For some strange reason that I don't totally understand myself, we share something of a connection. So I know that however strongly you feel about John, it pales compared to how he feels about you. We can work on him and get him to do a bit better in the romance department. I'm happy to help. But let's not fool ourselves here. There are definite limits to what he's going to be capable of. You're the only one who can decide if that's going to be enough. But sweetie, trust me on this…"

"A girl could do a lot worse."

x-x-x-x-x

When Jeff McKnight finally opened his eyes, the first thing that struck him was how much of a mess the room was. In their haste to get naked last night, they didn't take much time to account for neatness. So clothes were strewn in every direction that he looked.

Of course, that didn't hold his attention for very long. Because Carina was lying on her back sleeping beside him. She was so beautiful that Jeff had to just admire her naked form for a while. And she had made quite the effort last night. She said that it was going to be his night. And she certainly delivered.

Jeff thought some more about her request last night. She was clearly testing him. She didn't even try to hide that. It was her way of finding out how he really felt about her. And it certainly was wild. Under normal conditions he wouldn't have even considered it. After all, Jeff might enjoy having a good time, but he was just as serious about his duty as anybody. And while this wasn't anything like treason, it certainly wasn't within any bounds of proper conduct for a man in his position. But the more he thought about it, it didn't seem so bad. His post was ceremonial at best. There would be no real security risk with him taking a break for an hour or so. And getting her in that room would be a piece of cake. Just dress her like a cleaning person and whoever MI-6 had assigned would probably hold the door open for them.

Besides, she was going way out of her way to make him feel loved. Maybe it was time to show her that it went both ways. And if his girl's fantasy was to make love in the President's bed, well what was the harm in making that happen? So he reached over and gently kissed her.

Carina's eyes popped open as she quickly returned his kiss. "Morning," she said.

"You do realize that it's not really the President's bed?" Jeff asked with a smile. "It's just a room that he's staying in for a few days."

Carina looked at him for a long moment. As assignments go, this one hadn't turned out all that bad. Yes, at first the sex was lousy. But as time went on and he relaxed, even that was getting a lot better. In fact, it was getting to be less and less of a chore each time. There was now no faking required. And the look on his face said everything. He had caved. Her mission was almost over. "I know," she said. "But still, he'll be sleeping on the same sheets that we are going to… umm… initiate. I can't tell you how hot that gets me. Isn't it exciting for you?"

That got a short laugh. "It excites me to see you so excited," Jeff said. "Maybe after we get back home, I'll take a couple of days off and we'll go visit my parents in Florida. They would love to meet you."

Carina reached up and pressed her lips to his. He quickly responded when he felt her tongue pass his lips and they necked for a long, long moment. Then she moved slowly down his neck and chest, kissing as she went. "I'll tell you what," she said as she paused in her journey at his stomach and looked up at him. "Make this fantasy come true for me today and for the next two weeks whatever you say goes. I'll do anything that you ask."

"Absolutely anything."

x-x-x-x-x

They were now all dressed in their new uniforms and ready to go. Okay, so one would have to admit that Chuck had seen Sarah in some fairly sexy situations. In fact that was something of an understatement. There was nothing even unusual in it. She was his wife. And while it would be hard to say that he was getting used to seeing her naked, it was now an every day occurrence. So why was it that she was absolutely driving him crazy in that MI-6 uniform that Cole had brought with him? Was it because it was about two sizes too small and the few buttons on her blouse that were actually fastened were strained to the popping point trying to keep her more than ample chest within it's bounds? Or was it the incredibly cute British accent she was using that made her sound like she was born on a small farm just outside of Wales? Maybe it was because the bra she was wearing was so shear that when she wasn't wearing her jacket the outline of her figure was on full display.

Whatever it was, she clearly noticed… and was not as amused as one might think. "You're kidding, right?" she asked as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of Cole's earshot. "Of all the times that I would love that look from you, you pick now, when we're getting ready for a mission?"

Chuck quickly recognized that Sarah was in pre-mission mode, that he was about to get a stern lecture about taking the job seriously, and the only thing he could possibly control about it was how stern it was going to be. So he tried to put as serious a look on his face as he could and nodded. Unfortunately his attempt at contriteness was rather weak, like he could ever hope to fool Sarah anyway.

"Damn it, Chuck," Sarah said fighting hard to not raise her voice and cause a scene. "Okay, so I let it slide when you treated Cole like the long lost brother that you haven't seen in twenty years. It's only been less than a month. This is serious. It simply isn't the time for personal feelings. Do I really have to yell at you before every freaking mission that we go on? Do you think that I enjoy this?"

Chuck considered the question. Oh, he knew that it was rhetorical. But actually the truth was that he did think that she enjoyed it – a little anyway. It was her way of dealing with the stress. But he was far too smart of a guy to admit that to her. Unfortunately, the shake of his head was just a half beat too late to be truly convincing.

"Sonofabitch," Sarah said, no longer caring who heard. "You think that I enjoy constantly having to treat you like a child crossing a busy street for the first time? How many times do I have to say this to you? This is a mission, a dangerous mission. And if you can't respect it, it might be better if you don't go."

Chuck knew that this was hyperbole to make a point. There was no way for him to stay behind. The plan didn't work at all without the intersect. But pointing that fact out didn't seem all that smart considering the current flaring of her nostrils, something he had finally learned meant that she was pissed. He quickly thought how to best get out of this situation with as much dignity still intact as possible. Clearly silent contrition wasn't working. Maybe guilt… "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that this will be the first time you've played a male mark since we've been married. And with that barely there seduction outfit, I guess I'm a little on edge."

Another mighty swing and miss.

Sarah shook her head disgustingly. "Nice try," she said sarcastically. "Now you sound just like Bryce. Did you really have the tiniest expectation in that pea brain of yours that guilt would work on me in this situation? This whole thing is your plan. It was your idea to pour me into this ridiculously tiny Barbie Doll blouse. Remember that little detail? If you don't want me to do this, just say the word."

Quickly Chuck came to the realization that there was only one possible way out of this… total surrender. "I'm sorry," he said as he grabbed her hand. "You're right. You're totally right. I'm taking this seriously, I promise. Of course you have to do this. Can we just forget I said anything and drop this?"

"Fine," Sarah snapped. "Let's go."

Of course Chuck wouldn't be Chuck if he didn't try one last time to get a smile out of her. "In fact," he said with something of a smirk. "I'm not sure what came over me in the first place. I'm not liking that outfit on you all that much anyway."

Chuck didn't get his smile… not even close. But she did get that famous twinkle in her eyes that said she was over being angry. "Then I'm afraid that you're out of luck," she snapped in what was now obviously faux disgust as she turned on her heel to leave. "Because it's now going to be a very long time before you get to see me take it off."

Chuck just followed her out the door. "I seriously doubt that's true," was all he said.

Chuck knew that she was just teasing. She didn't mean it. And he also recognized what this whole scene had been about. She worried about him. That was understatement. His getting hurt on a mission was her biggest phobia. But what he didn't know was how ironic her last statement was. The mission to defeat the Ring had begun. And it wasn't going to go as planned… not at all. In fact, Chuck would never find out exactly what surprise Sarah had in store for their victory celebration tonight.

Because there wouldn't be one.

x-x-x-x-x


	45. Please Put Down the Phone

_I'm going to post this a day early because of the holiday. In America, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. It's a day where it is customary to reflect on your life and acknowledge the things that have blessed you. And to be sure, there are many things in that category for me. A loving and healthy family, good career, two grandchildren with a third on the way are certainly high on that list. But I'd like to take a moment and talk a little about something else I'm grateful for… the show Chuck._

_Oh, the show itself often frustrates me. Like my kids always said when they were growing up, my expectations are probably unreasonably high. And I have to admit that lately, for me, the show sometimes borders on mediocre. Why they would want to waste any of their last thirteen episodes concentrating on Morgan… well, I have no clue. But that's not really what I'm grateful for. If that's what it was, I'd probably already have stopped watching. No, I'm grateful for the people that I've met because of the show. I now have friends that I've made totally outside of any normal socio-economic channels. I have friends all across the world, some of whom English is not even their first language (so why are they better at it than I am?), all for only one reason._

_We share a common interest – this silly television show. It's allowed me to take a hobby, and turn it into what my wife calls an obsession. I've even had the privilege to work with some amazing talents. If you've read Chuck vs… The White Flag, or Family Matters, or The Road to Innocence or Seven Times then you surely know what I'm talking about. I'm actually every bit as proud of those stories as anything that I've written myself. None of those authors needed my help. They were all doing fine on their own. But they all allowed me to have input, to make their story a bit sappier. And I'm grateful for that._

_So on January 27th when we're watching the final episodes, I'll have mixed feelings. I may be blinking away a few tears (real men don't cry, lol) but I'll honestly not miss the show all that much. TPTB have already told the story they set out to tell and they don't seem all that interested in telling another. Fair enough. No, what I'll miss is the fandom. And sure, there are some people that will stay in touch past the end of the show, but the fandom will probably rather quickly fade away, off to obsess over some new show and to fanatically ship some new couple. That's as it should be, a circle of life type moment. But I have to admit, I'll really miss it._

_So I guess what I'm really saying is that what I'll miss most is you. So if you've ever sent me a review or a note, favorited one of my stories, or simply read them in anonymity and smiled… or groaned… or even threw something across the room, thank you. It's just one more thing that I'm grateful for._

_Okay enough of this mushy introspective stuff. Thanksgiving is also a day to throw any pretense of dieting to the wind, stuff your face until you can't move, watch football, and enjoy friends and family. Believe me, I intend on fulfilling my American duty and partaking to the fullest._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Please Put Down the Phone**

x-x-x-x-x

_All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. - Winston Churchill_

x-x-x-x-x

There was one good thing about Casey. Well, there was probably more than one good thing about Casey. But high on that list for today's purposes was his cop face. He was the one who actually looked the part of a Secret Service Agent. The irony here was that Sarah really used to be one. But even she had to admit that Casey looked more the part. And really, they were pretending to be MI-6 Agents anyway. And in that contest, Sarah had a definite edge. She was the only one who could sport a believable British accent. That left her and Cole to do all of the talking.

"Explain something to me," Devon said as they piled into the limo. "Why does Sarah have to go in alone and pick this guy's pocket? Once we're in there, it will be five on one. Why not just point a gun at him and make him open the door?"

Casey was never famous for being patient in the best of situations. And this was not close to the best of situations. "I thought we've been all through this," he growled as he slapped his palm to his forehead in obvious frustration. "No one can know that we've tipped off the President for any of this to work. The Ring has someone in the Secret Service detail, maybe more than one. How else could they plant the bomb on Air Force One? If they have a clue we're on to them, they'll just abort and try again some other time when we'll have no idea how to defend it. We can't reveal ourselves to anyone except the President himself… at least until we figure out who the mole is."

From Sarah's perspective there were a couple of good things about Casey's rant. First, it was kinda cute to see how red Devon's face got. She felt a little sorry for him. He really was a brilliant man, he just didn't get this spy stuff very well. And he tended to speak before thinking things through, which made him a perfect target for Casey. But more importantly, it took everyone's attention away from Sarah after her earlier rant and allowed her to grab Chuck's hand and snuggle into him a little. "I'm sorry that I got mad at you," she whispered into his ear. "I'm just… look… I love you."

Chuck smiled as he heard her whispering in her British accent. She was clearly already into her character as Sarah Burton, the sexiest, albeit perhaps a tad on the ditzy side, agent that MI-6 could offer. Unless he was gay, that poor Secret Service Agent didn't stand a chance in hell. Chuck almost felt sorry for him… almost. He also recognized his wife's mood. It was clear. She was feeling guilty for overreacting, like she always did just before a mission. She also clearly didn't want to do this. It was cute. He knew that she wasn't expecting him to say anything. He really wanted to reach over and kiss her. But he was smart enough to realize that wouldn't be the thing to do here, especially in front of Casey. So he just squeezed her hand in a silent show of support.

"But that doesn't mean that I'm not expecting you to be careful," she continued. "I most definitely am. Don't forget, I still have those flannel pajamas."

x-x-x-x-x

Ted Roark was sitting at his desk reading his morning report when his Administrative Assistant walked in. Ted had long ago delegated the day-to-day running of Roark Industries to a management team to allow him to concentrate on Fulcrum. But he still went to the office every single day. He also insisted that he receive a rather detailed daily briefing on the company's many various projects. "Here are the latest surveillance photos," the AA said as he handed Roark a manila folder.

"Anything interesting?" Roark asked as he began to thumb through the photos.

"That depends on what you would call interesting," the AA replied with a grin. "There is no sign of Frost. She hasn't left the house since they've been there. We still have no idea if Orion is even in the vicinity. There has been no sign of him. But the guys in the plane have been having a good time." He then handed Roark another picture. It was clearly taken at long range through a large lens and enlarged. So it wasn't the sharpest picture Ted had even seen. But even so, Misty and Ellie were plainly visible lying on their backs next to the lake getting some sun, wearing nothing but sunglasses.

"We're not sure who the one on the left is," the AA said with a short laugh as he pointed to Misty's image. "She's the one who the guys in the plane are slobbering over. But the one on the right is the daughter. She's not all that bad either. They say that she's a doctor. It sort of makes you want to schedule a physical."

Roark sat up in his chair, suddenly interested, and intently studied the picture. "Mary's daughter," he said softly to himself. "It's amazing. She looks exactly like her at that age." Then he turned his attention back to the AA. "Have her captured alive," he said. "It will be interesting to see what leverage she buys us."

"Yes, sir," the AA said briskly. "What about the other one?"

"She's of no use to us," Roark said dismissively as he turned back to his desk in an obvious signal that this meeting was now over.

"You can kill her."

x-x-x-x-x

James Dean had only been with the Secret Service for about a year. And for the first six months he had been assigned to the Vice President. So he was the junior member of the President's detail. All in all it was a pretty good job. You got to see a lot of the world. People always misunderstood exactly what it was that the Secret Service did. They were much more than just the President's traveling bodyguards. They were charged with protecting him. And that meant that everyplace he went, an advance team went first to scout out any possible threats and secure the area.

So Dean had been in England for ten days now. And honestly he was totally ready to get back home. There were some really exciting times ahead. But sitting alone in this windowless outer office pretending to have some function wasn't one of them. In fact it was boring beyond belief. MI-6 had this location as locked down as he had ever seen. At least he would usually have had McKnight to talk too. Not that Jeff was a brilliant conversationalist, he certainly wasn't. But it sure beat being alone. He really wasn't sure where McKnight even was right now. He said something about covering for him for an hour while he checked out the President's living quarters. And since he was head of the section and Dean's immediate superior, there wasn't much to question. Dean had to admit, he was currently bored out of his mind.

One thing was for sure. That was about to dramatically change for the better. Because after a short knock on the door Jim opened it to find Cole Barker standing there. He calmly walked in with another agent following. Even in this secure area, Agent Barker immediately flashed his credentials as proper protocol in this situation demanded. But Dean barely noticed. His attention was riveted to the other agent, perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her blue eyes were simply captivating.

Cole was grateful that Carina had taken care of McKnight. He would have been much too experienced and wary to control like this if he had been here. Besides, he knew Sarah on sight. But Dean was clearly already mesmerized by the blue eyes… and the other attributes she possessed. "Agent Dean," Cole said formally. "We've noticed that Agent McKnight has left his post, leaving you alone. Naturally, this is your jurisdiction and your call. But we would like to offer you a backup while he's away. This is Agent Sarah Burton. Naturally she would recognize that you are in charge in this room and follow any order you would issue. Would you like her to stay?"

Cole had to fight to keep the smirk from his face. The odds of any red blooded male turning down the chance to be alone in a room with Sarah were so low that he didn't have enough decimal points in his head to calculate them, especially dressed like she currently was. And indeed, Dean was already extending his hand towards her with a grin. "Agent Burton," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Then he turned ever so slightly back to Cole. "Thank you," he said. "It would help to have a backup. I'm not sure how long Agent McKnight will be gone." But he clearly was hoping it would be a long, long time.

"Very well," Cole said as he walked to the door. Then he turned to face Sarah. "Behave yourself," he chided.

Of course that sparked Dean's curiosity. "Agent Burton," he said with a puzzled smile as soon as Cole closed the door. "Why would he tell you to behave yourself?"

Naturally, it was all planned that he would ask that question. You might not have been able to tell from her appearance, but Sarah was now as genuinely nervous as she had ever been on a mission in her career. Even her first assignment right out of training hadn't been nearly this bad. Not that she had any worries about the job at hand. From a spy perspective this was actually going to be a piece of cake. He was already fixated on the cleavage she was flashing as if the cure to cancer was written somewhere in code between her left and right breast… and she hadn't even taken her jacket off yet. No, Sarah wasn't worried about getting that key card. She was worried about her husband. Oh, she knew that he understood. Of course he did. He was far too sweet to ever use this against her. If anything, he would go out of his way to make sure that she was okay. Even though it was not going to come remotely close to the things that she had done in the past, maybe not even as bad as things she had done since knowing Chuck, it still seemed horrible, almost obscene to her somehow. It was like it cheapened her marriage. And that's the main reason that she really, really didn't want to do this. And if this task hadn't been absolutely vital to Chuck's safety, she would have just turned around and followed Cole back out of the room. But it was vital… and there was really no other way. So she put that embarrassed smile on her face that without fail drove men wild. "Please call me Sarah," she said. "He's just being a jerk. A jealous jerk."

That got something of a grin. "Okay, Sarah," Dean said. "Jealous? Why on earth would he be jealous?"

Being able to blush on demand was one of the many talents learned at the CIA Academy. But actually Sarah didn't need that training this time. She knew that she was about to encourage this self proclaimed stud to get aggressive with her… big time. That's what that whole setup with Cole was for. It was probably just as well that Chuck most likely didn't realize how aggressive he was going to get. And that knowledge had her blushing all on her own. "This is a little embarrassing," she said shyly. "I was really hoping to not have to admit this to you. But the truth is I asked for this assignment. I wanted a chance to meet you. Agent Barker is… well honestly, that makes him jealous. I really wish he wouldn't have said that. It was petty. Now you probably think I'm some sort of slut. He might as well have introduced me as Agent Groupie. I'm so embarrassed."

Dean was frankly not all that stunned. It was fairly well known within the agency that foreign women were very attracted to the Secret Service thing. It was even covered in the pre-trip briefing to make sure to be discreet and not allow any liaisons to reflect badly on the country or the President… and not necessarily in that order. But for some reason on the road… it was unbelievable. She called it being looking like a groupie just now. And truthfully that's almost what it was like. Back home, not so much. But in other countries it wasn't all that unusual to meet a sweet young thing in the hotel bar, let her know that you were on the President's personal protection detail, and have her suggest that she'd very much like to see the inside of your hotel room a few minutes later. Now it's true that the sweet young things were never as incredible as this unbelievably gorgeous creature currently standing before him. That maybe had never happened to him. But he certainly wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Don't be embarrassed, Sarah," he said. "I think it's nice. I'm flattered. My name is Jim."

"Thanks, Jim," Sarah said with a relieved sigh. "That's nice of you to say. All of a sudden it's really warm in here." Actually it wasn't warm at all, and they both knew it. In fact, the President liked the room on the cool side so the air conditioning was turned on high. That was actually probably a good thing for her assignment on multiple levels. Now he would correctly assume that she was putting on a show for him. And it would definitely cement his attention to the outline of her chest, as if it wasn't always already there. But there was no denying that it added to her blushing discomfort a tad.

"Do you mind if I take off my jacket?"

x-x-x-x-x

It had been a long time since Cole Barker had anybody that he would call a true friend, not since college. Honestly, he didn't even know how to handle those feelings. They really weren't consistent with being an agent on a mission. Oh, he had always felt protective of Chuck. That was his job. But now it was different. They were buds. Cole genuinely cared for him. And that meant something different. It meant being protective of him more that just simply physically, it also meant protecting him emotionally.

So it wasn't that Cole disliked Casey. Not really. Oh he totally respected him as an agent. But they hadn't spent enough time together to become anything close to trusted partners, much less friends. One thing he did know, he couldn't leave Chuck alone with him. Not with Sarah in there… working. He was already in good form as he treated poor Chuck to his graphically descriptive commentary of what he was imagining happening in there between Sarah and her mark. Perhaps it was all in good fun, but frankly that rubbed Cole the wrong way. He knew that he had to leave for a minute to get the key card from Carina. So he took Chuck with him.

It was really only a short walk from the offices to the living quarters. "Don't let him bother you, mate," Cole said as soon as they were out of earshot.

But to his surprise, Chuck was grinning. "Who?" he asked. "Casey? Trust me. I've learned long ago to ignore Casey."

Cole did a double take. The Chuck he knew would have been beside himself knowing what Sarah was currently doing. "That's good," he said. "I would have expected a little more… concern from you."

"Why?" Chuck asked incredulously. "Sarah is making a sacrifice. She is doing something distasteful, something that she really doesn't want to do to help save us. She's a hero. She deserves my gratitude. The very least I can do for my wife is to not make her feel guilty about it by being petty, don't you think?"

"Wow," Cole said. "I must say that I'm surprised… and very impressed."

"We've really grown," Chuck replied. The pride in his voice was now unmistakable. "I'll admit that the last two years have been frustrating not knowing where I stood. But she changed all of that in Cancun. She's such an amazing person. The more that I know her, the more amazing I find that she is." Then his voice took a boyish turn. "Trust me," he said. "Whatever deception might be happening in that room right now, Sarah is going to stand on her head trying to make it up to me for real tonight."

The security surrounding the President's quarters was as intense as the offices had been. But Cole's credentials got them through easily. Finally they were in front of the President's bedroom. As planned, there was a cleaning cart in the hall. Cole quickly found the key card that Carina had left. "Speaking of sacrifices," he said. "I wonder what is going on in there."

"You do?" Chuck asked incredulously with something of a sarcastic laugh. "Sarah doesn't like this guy much. She says that he used to incessantly hit on her when she was with the Secret Service. That automatically makes him less than my favorite person. But I'm not sure that anybody deserves what Carina is currently doing to him."

"Really," Cole said in surprise. "I would think that most men would rather enjoy it."

"Probably that part," Chuck admitted with a laugh. "But the more I know about this, the more I dislike it. She is making him fall in love with her."

"Imagine when he finds out the truth."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole didn't want to go back to the office the same way they came in to avoid looking suspicious. So they went outside first, back to their limo. It was parked just outside of the ring of security that surrounded the entire facility.

Chuck was glad they went outside. It was a hot summer day and the warm fresh air actually felt pretty good. Naturally, there was the normal freak show of protesters that followed the President wherever in the world that he went just outside the event. Chuck looked in amusement at some of the outlandish hairdos when he locked eyes with a man leaning against a parked subcompact car.

That's when the flash hit.

"Cole," Chuck whispered in alarm. "There are two Fulcrum Agents looking right at us."

"Don't look at them," Cole quickly said. "Don't give away that you've made them. Get in the car." As soon as they were in the limo and Chuck had pointed out the men, Cole started the engine. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure," Chuck replied sadly. "At least the intersect is. Where are we going? We can't leave Sarah."

"Don't worry," Cole said as he pulled away. "We'll be right back. I'm just seeing if they are following us, or if this is just coincidence."

Cole clearly knew where he was going. He drove for about a mile and then pulled into a parking lot. "Chuck," he said softly. "I understand that you're quite famous for not staying in the car. I don't want to scold you, but I really need you to this time. I'm just going to go inside for a minute and see if they followed us. I'll be right back."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah wasn't sure if she was more annoyed… or concerned. They were both right up there. After all, this had been a very precise plan. They knew Dean wasn't just some guy on the street, he was a professional agent. The only way for Sarah to get him close enough and distracted enough to get his key card was to allow him to think that he was on the fast path to getting lucky. But naturally, Sarah didn't want him actually getting all that lucky. So strict timing was crucial. The plan was for the team to come in after exactly thirty minutes. That would allow Sarah just enough time to get the mark aggressive enough, and hence distracted enough to pick his pocket… but stop things just before he got bold enough to suggest that she actually start to remove some or all of her clothes. And that plan was working perfectly.

Oh, she knew that the hand that had started on her knee at about the ten minute mark as she sat next to him starting the obligatory silly flirting innuendo in earnest was ever creeping higher. She also knew what that was – his way of testing her. He was seeing how far he could actually go before she stopped him. And really, she had no plan to stop him. If anything she had to plaster that stupid smile on her face and adjust her hips to give him a better angle to encourage him to go higher. It was totally predictable that by the fifteen minute mark, any pretense at innocent friendliness was long gone when his hand had mostly disappeared under her skirt and was at the top of her nylons toying with one of the snaps of her garter. Finally satisfied that he had no bounds, he removed his hand to concentrate… someplace else.

At almost exactly the twenty-five minute mark the moment that Sarah was dreading most happened. He kissed her for the first time. That was by far the worst part. If his hands touched her chest through her blouse, or even the outside of her panties, well she could just turn off her brain and ignore it. But kissing was different. Not only was it far more intimate, she had to pretend to participate. She had to kiss back. But the timing couldn't have been more perfect. At exactly the twenty-eight minute mark she had his key card in her pocket, just about the same time that she could feel his hand gently ghosting over her blouse. But now the thirty minutes was up… five minutes ago. Which was a good thing because the kissing had turned a tad more intense. He was also no longer being at all subtle about feeling her up through her clothes. He had already undone her top button and was clearly planning on how to position her so that he could slide his hand into the top of her now pretty much open blouse for some serious second base necking.

This was where the annoyed and concerned thing started. Where was the damn team? In two more minutes this was going to get serious. So she moved to preempt it, hopefully in a way that he would accept without suspicion. "Jim," she whispered as she broke the kiss. "As much as I want to, we can't do this here. Someone is going to come in any second… and I'm already in enough trouble with this sort of thing as it is. Maybe we can get together later someplace where it's more comfortable, take our time, and do this right. Too bad you're leaving tomorrow, we could make a whole day of it." That was a calculated gamble on Sarah's part. It was actually something of a lame argument and they both knew it. There was no way the President would come out of his office without calling first, and Cole couldn't get back in without Jim opening the door for him. Either way would allow for him to get Sarah's shirt lying on the floor now and still have enough time to quickly get dressed if they were interrupted and not be suspected of anything. Hopefully offering him the entire package in a couple of hours would stall him long enough to allow for a graceful retreat. The only problem was now they were going to have to come up with a plan to get out of having to deliver. It was still imperative that he not suspect anything. Little did she realize that fate had just intervened on their behalf, just as it so often did. The team being late led directly to one of two huge breaks they would get today.

"Actually," Jim said with a grin. "I'm not going home with the team tomorrow. I arranged for some personal time. I'm going to stay in the country for a few days and do some sightseeing. Suddenly I know what sight I want to see first."

Sarah had to fight to keep the soft smile on her face. _Yeah, no kidding_. The sight he wanted to see first was pretty obvious. His eyes were currently burning holes through her blouse right where his hand had just been. _Too bad, Jim, it's so never happening_. But that got her thinking. One thing that they could never figure out was what Secret Service Agent would plant a bomb on the plane that he himself would be riding in? _Was this a true suicide mission? Maybe James Dean needed a little more scrutiny_. "That's great," she said as she put on her jacket. "I have some things that I would like to show you." _Like my fist as it crashes into your eye_.

"I'll tell you what," he said. "As soon I get done here, I have something to do at Air Force One. Maybe you'd like to go with me. We would have the whole plane to ourselves. I could show you around… and you could show me some things. It would be very comfortable."

That pretty much confirmed things in Sarah's mind. He was planning to plant the bomb. Why else would he be anywhere close to Air Force One? Of course it was also obvious that he was also planning on planting something else in the plane, probably in the bedroom compartment. "Sure," she said. "I've always dreamed of seeing Air Force One." Naturally, that was crap. Sarah had been on Air Force One hundreds of times. She had even been invited into the bedroom compartment on more than one occasion. But if she could catch him in the act of planting the bomb… So she turned on her most dazzling smile. "I'm sure that I can find something to show you in return."

Finally, at long last, the knock of the team came to the door. "Agent Dean," Cole said. "We're going to need the room for ten to conduct a routine sweep electronics sweep. If you would step out into the outer office with me while my team is performing the sweep, I have some standard questions for you."

Fortunately, Jim didn't protest. He just smiled at Sarah. "Agent Burton," he said. "It was very nice working with you. I hope to see more of you in the near future."

_Yeah, I'll bet that you would_. Sarah winced a little at the not so subtle double entendre. After all, Chuck was standing right there. But she forced herself to stay in character and smiled at him. "Agent Dean," she said. "I think that you can count on that."

As soon as Cole and Dean left the room, Chuck turned to Sarah with a smirk. "It looks like you've made a new friend," he said.

Sarah was not amused, not even a little bit. "Where in the hell were you?" she hissed softly but with a definite edge. "You're over ten minutes late. He was just getting ready to look in his wallet for a condom."

"Sorry," Chuck said with a smile at her clear annoyance. "Something came up. I have some news."

That got a bit of a smile in return. "So do I," she said triumphantly. "Our regular bet that my news is bigger." Then without waiting for Chuck to respond, she just blurted it out. "Dean is the mole. I'm almost positive. He's not going back with the President tomorrow. He also just offered to show me Air Force One after he gets off duty. I'll bet he is going to plant the bomb. We need to catch him in the act."

"That's an impressive bit of spy work," Chuck admitted. "But I'm afraid not quite impressive enough. There are two Fulcrum Agents that have been following us all day. They almost certainly know why we're here."

"Shit," Sarah muttered as she put her face in her hands. "Could this day get any worse?"

"Cheer up," Chuck said with a grin, suddenly clearly pleased with himself for winning. "I actually think you enjoy losing these bets to me. Besides, I'm sure that Dean wants to show you all around his plane, especially his cockpit."

In spite of the tension in the room, Sarah couldn't keep in the laugh. "Very funny," she said. "I'm sure he has lots of things that he'd like to show me. Too bad it's not going to happen. It's so not fair you being the intersect. I swear, someday I'm going to win one of these bets. And when I do…"

It was actually Casey who interrupted. "We have our own problems," he said tersely. "Maybe you two can continue this witty repartee later… preferably when I'm not around. But right now, you have ten minutes to convince the President of the United States that you're trying to save his life or we're dead. You'd better get on with it."

Chuck and Sarah took out their key cards and placed them in the respective readers. When the door opened, they saw a man who they immediately recognized as the President sitting at his desk reading a report of some kind.

The President was clearly startled as he noticed them enter the room. He quickly stood up. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. "You shouldn't be in here." Then he picked up the phone. When he looked back up, all he could see was the barrel of Sarah's Smith and Wesson pointed directly at him. Naturally, that quickly got his attention.

"Sir, I apologize for the weapon," Sarah said. "I promise that I'll explain everything to you to your satisfaction. But for right now, seconds count."

"Please put down the phone."

x-x-x-x-x


	46. Never Fight a Two Front War in Europe

_The final battle in the Bartowski family war has begun. Who will survive?_

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Never Fight a Two Front War in Europe**

x-x-x-x-x

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

x-x-x-x-x

You simply didn't get to be President of theUnited Statesif you were easily rattled. It just didn't happen. Not when every single word that you ever uttered in public from the time that you announced you were a candidate was held up to scrutiny by a press corps who was just dying to find some reason to ridicule you. It is just the nature of that job. If you don't like that sort of pressure, politics simply isn't for you. So while Sarah's gun pointed at him certainly had his attention, there was no hint of fear in his voice. "Okay," he said as he put down the phone. "Young lady, it looks as if you're in charge for the moment. Care to tell me why you're pointing your gun at me?"

"Sir," Sarah said as she lowered her gun. "I sincerely apologize for the weapon. I never had any intention of shooting you. I'm afraid it was the only way to accomplish what needs to be accomplished in the short time that I have. My name is Sarah Bartowski. You might recognize me better as Sarah Walker. This is my husband, Chuck Bartowski. I'm sure that you recognize that name."

"I do recognize both names," the President said. "You're a fairly famous CIA Agent. I didn't realize you were British."

Suddenly Sarah realized that she was still speaking with her accent. It actually broke some of the tension. "I'm sorry," she said with a laugh in her normal voice. "To get in here, I had to pose as an MI-6 Agent."

"I see," the President replied. "If memory serves me correctly, you once served on the Presidential Secret Service detail but you were transferred well before I took office. You of all people should realize what a serious crime you've just committed. I thought that you were in Los Angeles. What are you doing in London?"

Sarah was impressed with his memory. That was a faint detail in her file. "Yes, sir," she said. "We do realize the seriousness of our actions. It's just that we have no choice. There is a plot to assassinate you and take over the government. Hopefully once you understand the situation, you'll agree that our actions were necessary. But if after we've told you our tale, you still want to arrest us, we'll voluntarily surrender."

That actually got a smile. "A plot to take over the United States Government?" he asked. "Are you sure that you haven't just seen a bad movie? What you're saying is incredible."

"I'm afraid that it's true, sir," Sarah insisted. "There is an organization called The Ring. They were formed…"

"I know about The Ring," The President interrupted. "This is actually not my first rodeo, young lady. Not much is known about them. Mostly rumor, I'm afraid."

"No, sir," Sarah said. "I know how this is going to sound. Please believe that I mean no disrespect, but it's clear that I know a hell of a lot more about them than you do. The plot is well planned and sophisticated. Unless we do something I'm afraid the odds of its success are high."

"And how do you know so much about this?" the President asked skeptically. "And why not report it through your chain of command?"

"Mr. President," Sarah said. "I'm not trying to hide anything from you. I'm happy to tell you every detail about our intelligence and how we gathered it. But there is no time for that right now. Some of it comes from the intersect. But I've personally listened to surveillance conversations between the Vice President and his chief planner, Daniel Shaw. The short answer to your other question is that my chain of command is compromised. In fact the Vice President is the head of The Ring. I've had multiple phone conversations with both men. This is a long story, but they captured my husband and were holding him against his will to assist them in the plot. I and my partner, Major Casey, were able to rescue him. We've been on the run every since. They have made several attempts to capture us, which so far we have been able to barely evade. They have made a couple of attempts to negotiate but we don't trust them enough to consider that. Here is what we know. A member of your personal security detail is going to plant a bomb on Air Force One today. The plan is for the plane to explode in the Mid-Atlantic. The bomb will be powerful enough, and the water so deep that it will be years, if ever, before any wreckage is found. That will be closely followed up by massive coordinated attacks on ten American cities, staged to look like terrorist attacks. There will be hundreds of thousands of casualties. Once he becomes President he is going to use the fear generated by those attacks to declare martial law. The democracy will, for all intents and purposes, cease to exist."

If the President was surprised at the news about his V.P., he really didn't show it. He put his hand on his chin and didn't say anything for a long moment.

Sarah was standing, more or less at attention since she entered the room. But then she allowed her shoulders to sag. "Look, Mr. President," she said softly with a sigh. "I fully understand how crazy we must look to you. You're right to be skeptical. I'll freely admit that I don't know every detail of their plan, or even the complete list of people involved. I wish I had the resources to be able to present you with physical evidence and make a well thought out case. I simply don't have that luxury right now. We're currently in this room totally covertly. In seven minutes, we have to leave this office or our cover will be blown. Since we know that at least one member of your protection detail is compromised that would make them aware of us. If they suspect that you know about their plans…"

"They'll withdraw," the President finished her statement. "They'll simply plan on doing it some other time."

"Yes, sir," Sarah said. "And since we have no real evidence that he's done anything yet, it would be hard to prove that the V.P. has committed a crime. I'm afraid that's what we're up against."

"Tell me," he said. "Do you have an idea of who is compromised? McKnight? That would be very disappointing."

"We don't suspect Jeff McKnight," Sarah said. "At this point, he's probably the only one that we've been able to safely rule out. I've actually served closely with him in the past. I can't call us anything close to friends. In fact, I'll not try and hide that I personally don't care for him much. But I don't in any way question his loyalty. We strongly suspect Agent Dean. There may be others. But we believe that we've learned how Dean is going to plant the bomb this evening. If we can catch him in the act, maybe we can get a confession out of him. If he could be 'talked' into cooperating, we might just be able to set a trap and destroy The Ring in a single day."

The President turned to Chuck. "Mr. Bartowski," he said thoughtfully. "You're being awfully quiet. The briefings I've seen say that's hardy ever the case. Why are you letting your handler do your talking for you?"

"She's not my handler," Chuck snapped with much more of an edge than would be customary for speaking with the President of theUnited States. "She's my wife. And she's doing fine. She's used to talking to presidents. In fact, she's the best agent in the entire world to be standing here right now. Besides frankly, I'm afraid of saying too much right now. I'm more than a little angry at the way we've been treated by your administration lately. Sarah didn't mention that Daniel Shaw's first condition of negotiating was that she first spend an evening on her knees proving to him how obedient she would be. Naturally that is completely unacceptable. We've been on the run for weeks now. I could write a book."

The President didn't respond for a long moment but the clench in his jaw told that he was angry. "I've heard that he is somewhat of a dickhead," he finally said. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting him. Maybe that needs to change." Then he held up a picture. "Who is this?" he asked.

It was plainly a test. He didn't try and hide that. Fortunately, the intersect passed with flying colors. As soon as the flash ended, Chuck sighed. "It's Abit Nazul," he said. "He's the chief planner for a terrorist organization called the Jihad Brotherhood. They have recently been implicated in bombings of several embassies, killing forty-three Americans. He's rumored to be based out of Syria but that can't be confirmed. He actually attended college in the States. He graduated from…"

"Ohio State," the President interrupted with a smile. "So did I. It's something that I must bring up at the next Buckeye Alumni Association meeting. You're very impressive, Mr. Bartowski. I just got this intel myself yesterday. The intersect actually works. Naturally the Syrians vehemently deny that Nazul is there. But all signs point to it. I'm happy to finally get the chance to meet you, if for no other reason than to thank you for your service. I'm sorry that you feel you haven't been treated well. Maybe we can do something about that." Then he turned to Sarah. "Okay, Agent Walker," he said. "I'm not sure why, but I believe you. Nobody could possibly make up such a ridiculous story. I'm sure that you didn't come all this way without some sort of plan. What would you have me do?"

"First off," Sarah said with a smile. "With all due respects, sir, I'm no longer Agent Walker. My name is Sarah Bartowski. We've been married for a little over a week. And my new husband here is right. We haven't been treated very well. But to answer your question, the first thing we need you to do is to not get yourself killed. We have a list of the targets that will be hit tomorrow. Normally, this would be a matter for the Justice Department and FBI. But the Vice President is surely not acting alone. And since we're not sure who else in your administration might be compromised, we would suggest that you contact a military commander or two that you trust via back channels and have him work to neutralize the attacks."

"That's going to be a problem," the President sighed. "I can't use the military for domestic law enforcement purposes."

Sarah always knew that this would be an issue. She understood the rules very well. "Yes, sir," she said. "This evening I'm going to see if I can catch Dean in the act of planting the bomb. The fact that the bomb is being planted outside the country would allow us to assume foreign involvement. That could be considered an act of war. That should give you enough gray area to justify use of the military, at least until we figure out who is compromised."

That got a grin. "Very good, Agent… umm… Mrs. Bartowski," the President said. "Maybe you should have been a lawyer."

"Thank you, sir," Sarah said. "No offense to the legal profession, but I'm afraid that I'd find that to be pretty boring. I'm used to being a field agent. Now that I'm giving that up, I think I'll try my hand at a really hard job… being a wife and mother. This legal opinion comes from another member of our team who is still in the States. I hope to introduce you some time. She'd like that."

"I think I'd like that too," the President replied. "Tell me, just how are you going to catch Agent Dean in the act? I assume he's being careful to avoid being discovered."

Sarah noticeably blushed as she looked awkwardly at Chuck, clearly not wanting to describe her plan in front of him. So he winked at her and stepped up. "She's going to do what she's been trained to do," he said with a grin directed towards Sarah. "Like Agent Shaw before him, Agent Dean currently isn't thinking with the head on his shoulders. He's thinking with the one that's about three feet lower. He currently thinks that he's going to impress a beautiful MI-6 Agent by showing her around the most famous airplane in the world. He believes that she indeed, will be very impressed. He also is pretty sure that she'll be so grateful that she'll thank him… between your previously unstained sheets. His lust is going to cause him to get careless. It's the reason why we made it in this room in the first place. Now it's going to totally defeat him."

So it was true that the President wasn't easily rattled… but that did the trick. He immediately blushed and looked down at his desk. "I see," he said after a moment. "I hope that neither of you will take any offense at this comment… but I could definitely see how that could work."

And actually that turned Chuck's attitude around. He had walked into this room totally prepared to not like this guy. That was something of an understatement. He was prepared to make him the symbol, blame him for every wrong that had happened over the past two years. But now, watching him blush, he seemed more… well, more human. "No offense taken," he said in a much softer tone. "She's unbelievably beautiful isn't she? Everybody can see that. Trust me, Mr. President. I've watched men of every height, weight, and nationality drooling in her direction for two years. That's all most people ever get to see. But it's not until she allows you the privilege of really getting to know her that you find out how truly incredible she is. Her good looks aren't even close to being her best quality. If you only knew her like I do. People treat her like a dumb blonde. But the truth is that she is the smartest person I know, an honest to goodness genius. People treat her like she must be a prima donna who demands to be pampered. But the truth is she has made sacrifices for the greater good that most people wouldn't even consider. People treat her like she is soft and needs protecting. But the truth is she's the bravest tough-as-nails badass that I've ever heard of. Your CIA had this amazing person totally dedicated to following any order they would issue, and they pissed it away. In my mind that makes them too stupid to live. I truly have no idea why this remarkable goddess would ever choose me to be with but I thank God for it every day. She makes all of this worth it. I'm the luckiest guy in the whole world."

That speech clearly affected the President… well it clearly affected more than just the President. He looked at Sarah standing there unsuccessfully trying to blink back her tears for a long moment. "Agreed," he finally replied with a soft smile. "I actually think she might be pretty lucky as well. Look, I'm honestly not sure what exactly has happened to make you so angry. But I promise you that after this is over, come and see me and we'll look into it together. If anybody has any reckoning coming, we'll make sure that they get it. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, sir," Chuck said. "That helps. Thank you."

"How many people are on your team?"

"Six here in London," Chuck replied. "There are three American Agents, one MI-6 Agent, myself, and another civilian."

"I have a state dinner to celebrate the end of the summit tonight," the President said. "It's probably important that I attend. Otherwise it will arouse suspicions. Let's meet back here at nine. I'll call McKnight in and get him on board. Bring your entire team. I'd sort of like to meet them."

"Yes, sir," Chuck said as they headed for the door.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were back in the outer office for only about a minute before Cole returned with Dean in tow.

"We finished our sweep," Sarah said with a smile towards Dean, again in her accent. "The room is clean."

Chuck fought to keep the silly grin from his face. No matter how many times he saw it, the transformation always stunned him. Just two minutes ago a clearly emotional Sarah was standing there trying to blink back tears. Now she was this flirting sexpot throwing herself at this guy and making a date, ostensibly to screw his brains out. He couldn't hear what she was saying to him. She was speaking so only Dean could hear, and that was probably just as well. But Chuck could tell by the gleam in Dean's eyes the basic gist of what she was saying to him. He was already anticipating… well, the fun time between the sheets that she was, at least implicitly, promising. It allowed her to deftly slip the key card back into his pocket without him having a clue.

Chuck really couldn't get a handle on his own emotions. It was hard to feel sorry for this pig that was clearly standing there picturing himself undressing Sarah in his mind. But it surely was on the pathetic side. It was also hard to be angry, certainly not at Sarah. If he was angry at all, it was more general in nature. He was angry at the situation. But even that wasn't it. Then he realized what it was. He was guilty. She really, really didn't want to do this. The fact that it looked so effortless was deceiving. This was far harder for her than he ever realized. So he made a mental note to thank her as soon as he could get her alone. Maybe that would convince her that she had nothing to feel badly about.

But Chuck quickly found that he wasn't going to be able to thank his wife, give her any words of comfort, or say anything when it came right down to it. Because as soon as they were in the private room that Cole had somehow secured for them he found his mouth completely covered… by hers. Naturally Chuck wasn't about to put up any protest. And even if he was inclined to, there was no getting out of Sarah's death grip anyway. He really had no choice but to fully participate. She had both hands behind his head and her tongue was doing simply magical things. It was like she was making a statement.

Which, of course, she was.

Predictably Casey was fully supportive. "Oh my God," he groaned. "We're in the middle of a mission… and we just had lunch. If you're trying to see it, you're heading in the right direction."

But Sarah just ignored him. Finally she broke the long, incredibly passionate kiss. She pulled back enough to look into his eyes but she didn't release the death grip. Her own eyes were shinning. "Normally I would be more sensitive to your well known aversion to PDA," she said. "But you're being punished."

For a moment, Chuck wasn't sure he heard her correctly. For one thing she was currently very conspicuously rubbing her more than ample chest against his. "Punished?" he asked.

"That's right," she said as she reached forward to gently bite his lower lip. "And if you're smart you'll just stand there and take your punishment like a man. I should be very, very pissed at you."

"If that's how you act when you're pissed at him," Casey said sarcastically. "Wait until you see that he left the toilet seat up again. You'll be looking for a condom."

Chuck couldn't resist the opening that Casey had just presented him. "Actually, big guy," he said as her looked over her shoulder towards Casey. "We don't use condoms anymore. We're trying to start a family."

It wasn't clear if Chuck's barb did the trick, or if it was Devon laughing loudly at the shot that distracted him. But whichever, that shut Casey up, for a while anyway. Well, as long as disgusted grunts don't count.

Once Chuck was satisfied that Casey had been quieted, he turned his attention back to Sarah. "Why would you be pissed at me?" he asked. "I thought that went quite well."

Sarah narrowed her eyebrows. "You just had me bawling," she said. "In front of the freaking President of the United States. I don't think that you realize that I have a reputation to protect. He had this vision in his head that Agent Walker is some stone cold badass that even the other agents are afraid of… and then he sees me standing there crying. Now he probably thinks that I'm some sort of pussy. Besides, Chuck, we're in the middle of a mission. Did you really expect me to go out there, flirt with Dean, and make a date with him when I'm sobbing? I barely got it back together in time."

So now Chuck was a little unsure if she was actually pissed or not. "Umm…" he started, not really knowing what to say.

Fortunately, Sarah preempted whatever Chuck was going to say anyway, by another kiss, this one even more intense than the first one. As soon as the long kiss broke, her lip began to quiver again. She was clearly trying to keep her voice from breaking. "But how could I possibly be mad at you?" she was finally able to whisper. "That was the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me in my whole life. I was feeling so guilty. I know that you get jealous. Who could blame you for that? No husband should ever have to watch his wife throwing herself at someone, especially given our history. I guess that I still am guilty a little. But you really helped me in there. Someday you're going to have to explain to me how you always know exactly what I need to hear. I look back at my life before we met, and I realize that I was sleepwalking. Now I can't imagine how I got through the days without you. For the record, it's me that is the lucky one."

Chuck rubbed her back affectionately. "I guess that we'll have to agree to disagree about that," he said with a soft smile. "Please don't feel guilty. You have zero need. Thinking back, I'm honestly a little embarrassed about being so jealous. Everybody understands how much you hate this, especially me. You're a hero. Fair warning though, one more kiss like that and it's going to be me to show you the bedroom quarters on Air Force One by necessity. Dean can find his own girl. I'll get lucky in an entirely different way."

"Trust me on this," Sarah said. "I'd like nothing better. I'm afraid that we don't have time for that right now. But don't worry. I know a lot more about you than you think. I've been trained to be observant. I've learned what things drive you crazy. The very second that I can get you alone, this is what I'm going to do."

Then she leaned in and whispered into Chuck's ear for a long while. The blush traveling up his neck was plain for everyone to see. "Please don't be embarrassed," she said with a soft smile. "But at least it would be hard for you to now deny that I'm right. I'm not trying to embarrass you. I also figured out why you would never ask for those things. You're too sweet. You're afraid that somehow I'll take offense. So if I can't get you to ask me, I'll just have to do them all on my own. For once I want one night to be all about you. You deserve it. I'm looking forward to it more than you are."

"I'm not sure that's true," he finally said with a grin. "Besides, if you do all of that, you'll probably kill me."

"Well," Sarah said with a smile as she gently kissed him again. "Then you'll die with a contented smile on your face."

Casey knew that any protest would fall on deaf ears, so he turned to Devon in frustration. "Lucky bastard," he growled sarcastically. "I wish she would kill me."

"Then at least I wouldn't have to listen to any more of this."

x-x-x-x-x

Fred White didn't spend much time in the White House under normal circumstances. For one thing, it was good policy that the Vice President not be in the same place as the President very often anyway. And that policy was more than fine with both men. Not only did they not agree on almost any policy issue, their personal dislike for each other was getting hard to conceal. There were already rumors to that effect flying around the press corps. Why add any more fuel to that potential fire?

But with the President in London, it wasn't so bad. It gave him a chance to come check out his new home in detail. He knew that his wife would spend most of her time keeping the decorators busy. Her and the President's wife agreed on style just about as much as he and the President agreed on policy. The good thing about that was it would keep her busy and out of his hair.

As he sat in the Oval Office, Fred put his feet up on what would become his desk and took a moment to consider what his life was going to be like starting just about this time tomorrow. Oh, he knew full well that it was going to be frantically busy. Being the President was all of that and more during even the best of times. And this was going to be anything but. The country in martial law, its citizens huddled in their homes fearing the next terrorist attack. His first priority of the first months would be to find and crush the resistance. Oh, there would be some, there was clearly going to be a few that would fight to keep the country out of martial law. But they wouldn't be able to hold out for long, not against the power that he would soon command. It would be easy to call them terrorists.

Fred even took a moment to contemplate what his personal life would be like. He knew that he was going to go down in history as the man who saved the republic. That was nice. But there were also some personal perks. Maybe Daniel was right. This being able to have any woman that you desired might be a little fun. And as much as he was willing to sacrifice, wasn't that the least he deserved? After all, he wasn't made of stone. It was probably best for the country if he took a little time to keep his spirits up and batteries charged.

"Oh well," Fred sighed as he looked around the historic room.

"I don't have long to wait now."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole was back with Carina in tow after she was able to replant McKnight's key card. That, mercifully in Casey's view anyway, quickly ended whatever romantic moment Chuck and Sarah were having.

Sarah spent a few minutes briefing the team on their talk with the President. She left out the part where Chuck so lovingly praised her, probably because she didn't want to start bawling again, especially in front of Casey.

"Wait a minute," Devon said in surprise. "We have to meet with him again? The plan was just to let the President know about the plot. We did that. I thought we were done?"

"That was the original plan," Sarah agreed with a sigh. "But things have changed. We have been presented with a golden opportunity. If Dean is the only mole and we can quietly capture him in the act, we might be able to 'talk' him into cooperating. That would allow us to catch the Ring in the act. That raises the stakes substantially. It's worth another evening of effort from us."

"Sarah," Devon said with a sigh. "Do you really have to seduce this creep? It's not worth it."

Sarah grinned at her future brother-in-law. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm just going to flirt with him a little until we get on that plane. Once we've verified that he has planted the bomb, I'm going to introduce him to my sweet husband here. He is going to give him a not-so-sweet close up demonstration of Dad's invention. I'm sure that we're going to be able to be most convincing."

"Chuck?" Cole asked gently. "No offense, mate. But maybe this is something that I'd better handle. I'll have to go with you to get you through security anyway."

"Chuck can handle this," Sarah insisted. "I'll be there. Besides, Chuck could handle twenty Deans. You've never seen the Intersect 2.0 in action."

"She's right about that," Casey said in response to Cole's skeptical look. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe it myself. When it kicks in, he's unstoppable."

"Besides," Sarah said with a grin directed at her husband. "He's had to watch some uncomfortable stuff with me and this lowlife traitor, stuff that no husband should have to put up with. Justice demands that he get his shot at retribution. He deserves that."

"Okay," Casey said. "So what are we going to do about the two Fulcrum Agents waiting for us outside? We have to find out what they know."

Carina hadn't heard about the Fulcrum Agents yet. She mouthed a wordless protest.

The room grew silent as they contemplated what this new development meant. Suddenly Chuck's epiphany caused him to send his chair flying as he stood up.

"Where are you going," Sarah asked.

"Mom didn't get randomly mugged," he hissed. "There was nothing about it that was like a normal robbery. Those bastards set Ellie up. I'm going to give them a not-so-sweet close up demonstration of Dad's invention."

Suddenly the room nodded in recognition that Chuck was almost certainly correct. These bastards had purposely delayed Mary so that Ellie would be alone, most likely simply for their amusement.

"Charles Irving Bartowski!" Sarah all but shouted. "Don't you dare take one more step."

Cole was between Chuck and the door. But he really wasn't needed. Chuck recognized that tone and stopped in his tracks. Even in his rage, he knew that was Sarah's no-nonsense handler voice. Ignore it at your own great risk.

"I'm afraid that she's right, mate," Cole said gently as he guided Chuck back to his seat. "We're going to have to plan this carefully. We'll have to capture them and find out what they know without giving them a chance to tip off their superiors that we're on to them. Don't worry. We all want a shot at them. We just have to do it right."

It's funny. There was nothing but silent rage in that room for a long moment. Everyone was seeing red. After all, the room was filled with people who absolutely loved Ellie. Devon was her fiancé. Casey was her big brother and maybe best friend. She was Chuck and Sarah's sister. Even Cole considered her his closest friend. So why was it Carina, followed closely by Sarah who were the most incensed? Probably because they had been in the same spot as Ellie had been themselves before. They knew first hand what it meant for a spy to get set up. "Casey and I will get the drop on them while you're taking care of Dean," Carina growled. "We'll take Devon with us. He can be the distraction. We'll get then behind closed doors and find out what they know. It'll be fun."

"That means we wait for Sarah," Casey chided her gently. "Interrogation is her specialty. These guys are trained agents. She's the only one who can get the truth out of them. That means they have to be alive until she can get there."

"Fine," Carina snapped back. "But that doesn't mean they have to be pain free, does it? I'm not in a real good mood. I'll stay back and guard them while you're meeting with the President."

Sarah knew her friend so well that she wasn't fooled for an instant by the lame excuse. She instantly realized that Carina had some other reason for not wanting to meet with the President. Then it hit her. She didn't want to be in the same room with Jeff McKnight after he found out the truth that she had been playing him. And Sarah was sympathetic… but still. "Sorry," she said. "The President was very specific. He wants to meet all of us. You'll probably get an assignment in there. Cole can arrange for a guard while we're gone."

Chuck had come to the exact same conclusion as Sarah did, almost at the exact same time. He wasn't even really sure how he felt about it. Carina wasn't the bad guy here. She had just done what Dad asked her to do… and with amazing skill. Without her they'd be dead. He owed her nothing except a big hug. He knew all that. But still, it might be a good thing for her to see first hand how painful this seduction technique was for the mark. And truthfully, it might be good for Sarah to see it as well. Okay, so maybe he wasn't so proud of that thought. He really didn't want to cause her any pain. But she clearly didn't completely get it. Maybe it would open her eyes a little. Maybe there was even some justice there. Nobody deserved what had just happened to Jeff McKnight, no matter what kind of jerk he was. But on the flip side, there was a look in Carina's eyes that he had never seen before. So he reached over and grabbed her hand. "You're actually falling for him, aren't you?" he asked gently.

Sarah winced a little when Chuck said that. As Chuck would so often say, he had just tossed Carina a hanging curve ball, whatever that meant. And knowing Carina, she was about to take great pleasure in ramming it down his throat. Sarah absolutely knew that Carina would brutally make fun of him, starting now and lasting for several days. She waited for it knowing that she might have to step in and pick up the pieces. But the more time that passed when she didn't, it caused her eyes to gradually widen in surprise until she was finally forced to realize the unbelievable truth. Chuck might actually be right.

In fact, Carina made no attempt to deny it at all. That single fact spoke volumes. She kept her gaze fixed at the table, as if there was suddenly something interesting imprinted there. "He's going to hate me," she finally said so faintly that they had to strain to hear her. "At first it was awful. I knew that Sarah didn't like him. But he's honestly not such a bad guy once you get to know him and he stops trying so hard to constantly impress you. He's dedicated his life to the same cause that I have. And he can really make you laugh when he wants to."

Carina looked around the room at the stunned looks. "I'm not falling in love," she quickly protested. "I'm not even sure what that means. But I have to admit, I found myself actually starting to have a good time with him. At the end, I found myself looking forward to the next time I would see him. I really wasn't acting all that much. He wanted to take me to Florida to meet his parents. I actually found myself wanting to go. Imagine that. I've never had a man want to take me to meet his parents before. I was hoping that I would have a chance to explain the situation to him gently and maybe get him through it with a minimum of heartbreak. Maybe we could even… Now it's going to hit him like a ton of bricks right between the fucking eyes. He's going to hate me."

Suddenly Chuck's desire to see justice executed vanished into the air like your breath on a cold morning. It was the most human that he had ever seen Carina. He could tell by the look on Sarah's face that she was stunned. When Carina was vulnerable like this she was much more likeable. It was very nice to see. He felt so horrible for her. So he gave the hand that he was still holding a soft squeeze.

When Carina finally looked up, it was clear that she indeed had tears she was unsuccessfully trying to blink away. "It was the job," she said. "I had no choice."

Chuck dropped the hand he was holding and scooted over until he was next to Carina. When he put his arm around her she actually surprised everyone by burying her face in his shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "Yes, he'll be hurt. But you can turn this around for him. I know it. Tell him what you just told us. Sarah will help."

If Sarah was surprised that Chuck had just volunteered her, she didn't show it. Normally the sight of Carina snuggled so intimately with Chuck would have had her reaching for a knife. But this, this wasn't romantic or sexual. This was just her sweet husband being what made him Chuck. So instead of the knife she reached over and rubbed Carina's back for a minute. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said. "Chuck is right."

"We'll make sure that you get your chance."

x-x-x-x-x


	47. Calling the Shots

_Content warning: There is a necking (and maybe a bit more) scene here that may be a bit more explicit than usual. As always it will stay within the scope of a T rating. But if you're particularly squeamish about such things, you might want to skim the first scene. Oh, the scene is between Chuck and Sarah if that makes a difference, lol._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Calling the Shots**

x-x-x-x-x

There will one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in its potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever. - Thomas A. Edison

x-x-x-x-x

Cole had found Sarah a little room outside the ring of security where she could wait for Dean to get off duty as she requested. Of course Cole was a master spy. He basically knew what her plan was and how it was probably going to play out. She really didn't have to describe it. So it came as no surprise to Sarah that the room he provided was the perfect setting for the intense activity that was surely going to take place in just a few minutes. It had no windows, a leather couch against the wall, and most importantly a sturdy lock on the door. No one could ever be allowed to know about what was going to happen in here. That was a show stopper, mostly because it would be hard on Chuck. She wasn't exactly sure how far he would want to go this afternoon. It wasn't the most comfortable place to have multiple rounds of sex. But she knew she would, at a minimum, lose most or all of her clothes. That was pretty much a given. The only decision to make now was should she take the lead and put on a strip show for him… or let him make the first move? Of course she would promise him much more later, but that would probably excite him even more than he already was. And if the bulge in his pants was any indication, he wouldn't want to wait. He would want a quickie right away. And the simple truth was he was totally calling the shots here. He always had been and they both knew it. If he wanted that quickie, or anything else from her when it came down to it, well she was certainly not in a position to deny him anything. That's why it was vital that no one ever find out what had happened in here. The room was simply perfect for Sarah's mission.

Oh, not that mission. Dean wasn't even going to get off duty for a little over an hour. And Sarah was going to make doubly sure that there would be no further physical activity with that creep anyway. She'd already put in as much of that kind of disgusting duty that she would be able to stomach today. It would be easy anyway. He would be so anxious to get her into that airplane and the promised show in the bedroom compartment that he'd be falling over himself. No, the room wasn't for Dean. But Chuck would never be comfortable with what she had in mind unless he knew that the room was secure.

As soon as he showed them the room, Cole quickly made an excuse to leave her alone in it with Chuck. Actually, it was a pretty good excuse. He was going to help Casey and Carina with the plan to capture the Fulcrum Agents. And under normal circumstances, Sarah would have insisted that she be a part of that, not that she didn't trust Casey and Carina. They were more than competent to do this without her. It's just that Sarah was used to being involved in every planning detail. But today they were on their own. She had a much more important mission to complete.

As soon as the door closed, Chuck glanced around the room nervously. He knew the look on his wife's face very well. It was pretty much the look that a cat got when she had the mouse cornered with no possible escape. "So," he said cautiously as he watched her step purposely to the door, lock it, and them flick off the lights. "What are we going to do now? You do realize that this room is not all that private? What if it's bugged?"

But that mild rebuke wasn't nearly enough to keep the confident smirk from Sarah's face. There was barely enough light in the room to make out his face. "It'll do," she cooed as she gently pushed him on the chest towards the couch. "You asked what we're going to do now. I don't think that you realize something. We could do anything that you'd like… absolutely anything. But if you're going to wait and always let me make the first move, guessing on what things you'd like and when, then you've put me de facto in charge of our sex life. I think that it's time that I stopped whining about that and just embraced it. Now don't misunderstand me. You can be back in charge anytime you'd like. But for right now anyway, I'm calling the shots. I think that I'd like to hear you admit that."

Chuck quickly found himself pushed backwards until his legs were trapped against the edge of the couch. The next push predictably found him sitting. "Umm, about that you-calling-the-shots thing," he started with a grin. "I think that I can live with that, at least for the sake of this discussion. Tell me something, just for a future point of reference. Are you going to be issuing me verbal instructions? Or are you simply going to push me like you just did? Pushing my hands, lips, and… umm… other body parts into the position that you want them? Kind of like a puppet… but without the stings."

Sarah fought the urge to laugh. She sat down on his lap, cocked her head, and actually considered the question for a moment – or pretended too anyway. "That's actually a fairly good question," she finally answered as she touched her lips to his. "I've always been an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of chick. Let's try that puppet thing for a while and see if you can keep up. Unfortunately, we don't have the time right now for a true test. But how about this?"

For her first test, Sarah wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck and pressed her mouth to his. Naturally, it only took a second before their tongues were hungrily dancing.

"Very good," Sarah said with her eyes shining in the dark when she finally broke the long kiss. "I'd have to pass you on that test. No words were even necessary. Let's try something a bit harder." She took one of her hands from around Chuck's neck, grabbed his hand in hers, and guided it to the opening at the top of her blouse. Then she returned her hand to its original position behind Chuck's head and initiated another long kiss. If it was a harder test, it wasn't much harder. Chuck clearly passed with flying colors as he unbuttoned her blouse. She helped him by taking her arms from his neck for a second and allowing the silky blouse to slip from her shoulders and to the floor. Then she leaned forward to allow him easy access to the snap on the back of her flimsy bra, which was clearly serving no real purpose except for decoration anyway. It quickly joined her blouse on the floor. They stayed in that second base necking position for a long time.

"You're a natural," Sarah whispered with a sigh as she finally had to breathe enough to reluctantly break the kiss. "We probably don't have to talk at all. That is going to save us a lot of time in the future."

"You call those tests?" Chuck asked with a grin. "I'm thinking that you wanted me to pass. You're acting like we're done. Maybe we haven't been married for that long but we've run the bases a time or two… and we never have once stopped at second base."

"Thank goodness," Sarah sighed as she felt his hand leave her chest and start rubbing the inside of her leg. "If you left me on the edge like this, Dean was going to start looking pretty good." Then she pulled back a little, her face twisted in horror as she realized what she had just said. "I… Chuck, it was a bad joke. You know that, right? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it. That's probably not something to joke about."

"Yes, Sarah," Chuck said, purposefully mocking her guilt. She was so cute trying so hard to make sure not to hurt him. "I understood that you were joking. You don't have to feel bad about that. When are you going to believe that I'm over being so insecure?" Then his grin turned sinister as his hand fumbled for the clasp on her skirt.

"That's good to know," Sarah sighed as she waited for his next move. "Look, I don't tell you enough how much I love you. I'm sorry that we're stuck in this ridiculous room. But I'm afraid it's the only time we're going to have to be alone for some time. So your wild night is going to have to wait. I'm so sorry about that. I promise to make it worth the wait."

"I guess that we'll just have to make do," Chuck said with a soft kiss.

"Good," Sarah said. "It's true that I was kidding about Dean… but I am sort of on fire right now."

"I can see that," Chuck said with his grin still evident. "I'm absolutely sure you were kidding about Dean… but let's not take any chances. You're going to have to help me a little here."

Sarah stood up and quickly shifted her hips until the unbuttoned skirt slid to the floor. When she stepped out of it, she smiled. "Can I do the rest?" she asked sheepishly. "You're not so good with the garters… and I do have to be presentable in an hour."

Chuck was pretty sure that it was a trick question. So he just nodded and watched the incredibly erotic sight of his beautiful wife rolling down her nylons. As soon as she was back sitting on the couch, he kissed her and began a slow trail down her neck. Sarah clearly knew what was coming because she put her hands on his head and pushed in a clear signal that she wanted him to pick up the pace.

"Ah," Chuck said as he lifted his head. "Back to the puppet thing."

Sarah knew that he was teasing but she was now well past the point of wanting to talk. So she just surrendered to his touch. She was biting her lip with her eyes closed enjoying the attention.

"By the way," Chuck said as he paused his efforts for a quick moment. His sheepish grin was now more for his own benefit than anything. Sarah surely couldn't see it. She was lying back with her eyes closed, was again biting her lower lip, and softly moaning helplessly while trying to guide his head back to the spot.

"It looks like I'm back calling the shots."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey, Carina, and Devon were waiting in the conference room. As usual, Casey and Carina were arguing over how to capture the Fulcrum Agents.

"That's not going to work," Casey insisted with a fist pounded on the table for emphasis. "I know that you think that your tits are the answer to every problem. But not in this case."

Carina looked over at Casey with a sly grin. "And just what is wrong with my tits now?" she asked indignantly. "I know that you didn't always think like that. There was a time that you wanted a peak at them so badly that I was able to cuff you to your bed. Remember that? I think perhaps Misty has spoiled you. I'm going to have to have a friendly chat with her." Then she turned towards Devon. "Maybe we need an unbiased opinion," she said as she reached for the hem of her shirt. "You're a doctor. You should be a good judge. You've seen Misty without her shirt, right?"

It took about a millisecond for Devon to raise his hand to shield his eyes, and just a bit more for the redness to predictably rise up his neck. "Please keep your shirt on," he cried defensively. "I don't want to judge. I'm sure that they're very nice."

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Casey had to laugh out loud. "Relax," he said. "She's just messing with you." Then he turned to Carina. "Nobody is saying that your body is anything less than spectacular," he said. "That's not it. If it would work, I'd be all for it. But these guys know who you are. One glimpse of you is going to put them on full alert. They won't be looking at your chest, no matter how much of it you push at them. They'll be looking around trying to figure out where the attack is coming from. That's exactly what we don't want."

Carina just shook her head firmly. "You don't know men," she said dismissively. "If I gave them a good look down my shirt, you could wheel an Abrams Tank in behind them and they wouldn't notice. They won't remember their own name until your gun is pointed between their eyes."

Fortunately, they weren't able to continue their argument, because Cole picked that time to reenter the room… and he wasn't alone.

Devon would never admit this, not in a million years, not if he was being tortured, even with Ellie five thousand miles away. He was actually lucky in that Ellie wasn't all that overtly jealous… but she clearly made a point to notice whenever he glanced at another woman. So there was no reason to develop bad habits, especially ones that would push her buttons. But he had to admit, he was currently looking at perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her chestnut hair hung over her shoulders in layered waves that shimmered in the light. Her fair skin was… simply perfect.

ApparentlyDevonwasn't as good hiding his approval as he thought, because Cole flashed him a knowing grin. As if he was thinking "Touché, I think that your fiancé is very attractive too." But then he actually did speak. "Devon, Carina, Casey," he said. "I'd like you to meet Brigid." Then he turned to Brigid with a softer smile.

"Brigid has agreed to help us get the jump on our Fulcrum friends."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Cole were sitting in their car parked on the tarmac safely hidden behind the tinted windows. They were well outside the security perimeter that surrounded where Air Force One was parked. But the plane was clearly in sight.

"I don't understand," Chuck said as they sat in the car watching the scene that the late afternoon sun had brightly lit waiting for Dean to show up with Sarah. "How can Dean possibly get a bomb through this security?"

"It won't be that hard," Cole replied without taking his eyes from the binoculars that he was using to scrutinize the scene. "Air Force One is American jurisdiction. MI-6 is only securing the perimeter. Dean is part of the American protection detail. He'll have the proper credentials. No one will question him taking anything on the plane, not a suitcase, not a woman. And a briefcase full of C4 in the right spots would blow that airplane into a billion pieces all about the size of a quarter. The bigger question is how he's getting the C4 in the first place. He must be working with someone on the outside, MI-6 most likely."

"MI-6?" Chuck asked. "I thought that you caught your mole. And why would an MI-6 agent want…"

"There are Wormtongues in many houses, I'm afraid," Cole said sadly.

Responding to Chuck's stunned silence, Cole took his eyes off the glasses for a second to grin at him. "What?" he asked. "You think that you're the only one who's ever read Lord of the Rings? Tolkien was English, you know. My friend, there are lots of people across the world who would like to see this plot succeed, some for political reasons, but most for pure greed. They would be friends with the new administration. It would be most profitable. That's why we have to find out who Dean's working with and catch them."

"Is that why you're using Brigid?" Chuck asked.

"Exactly," Cole responded. "I'm no longer sure who I can trust. And believe me. I had to do a fair amount of sweet talking. She's none too fond of the spy thing in the first place. Dressing skimpily and allowing men to ogle her is not her favorite thing either. The only way I was able to talk her into it was by giving her the chance to finally meet the famous Bartowski family that I had been going on so about. That turned the tide."

Chuck didn't answer, he just grinned back. But it didn't escape him how much had changed. Just six weeks ago Cole was his biggest rival. He was sure that he had captured Sarah's heart and they were about to become a couple. And now here he was - one of his closest friends. It was a great lesson in not judging a book by its cover.

Then he spotted her.

Of course Chuck would have recognized Sarah anywhere, nothing unusual about that. He would have been able to pick her out of a crowd in almost any circumstance. But today she stuck out like a scene from a movie. The sun that was getting low in the sky behind her sparkled through her golden hair and almost made it look like she was wearing a halo. He was struck by how much she looked like an angel. Or maybe Cole's reference to LOTR made Chuck think of an Elfish queen. Maybe it's what Aragorn saw as he beheld Arwen for the first time. Whatever it was, she had never looked more beautiful. Sarah was walking beside Dean with her arm casually looped through his, smiling and talking as they walked. For Dean's part, he was clearly enthralled, obviously imaging the scene that she had promised him as soon as they were alone.

That's when Chuck had to admit it. He was jealous. Oh, not for any romantic reason. He understood this was pure mission. Sarah loathed this guy. Betraying your duty was her hottest of hot buttons. She couldn't wait for the chance to kick him in the head… several times. But that smile. Yes, it was fake… but still. Suddenly Chuck didn't feel so generous about sharing. He wanted every single one of those smiles for himself.

Chuck watched as Dean led Sarah towards a man that was standing on the tarmac, well outside of the security perimeter.

Cole was focusing on the man that they were walking towards. "Shit," he exclaimed as he dropped his binoculars in alarm.

"Chuck, we've got a serious problem."

x-x-x-x-x

If Devon thought that Brigid was attractive before, well he was absolutely right. But that was before she took off her jacket. Now she was breathtaking. Her blouse wasn't exactly transparent, but it also didn't hide anything of the shape of her pretty much perfect chest. And every step that she took on her way outside… well… drew his attention to that spot all the more. Devon was doing his best not to stare. Really he was.

Fortunately Casey saw his discomfort and, like the good, compassionate person that he was, immediately came to his friend's rescue to defuse the tension and ease whatever embarrassment he was feeling. "Damn, Devon," he said sarcastically and as loud as he could without shouting. "Are you going to be okay? You look like you're going to explode. Ask her really nicely and maybe she'll let you gawk at her for a while longer after we finish the mission."

"I'm not gawking," Devon immediately protested. Although the purple that was already well into his face said otherwise. "Brigid, I'm sorry."

Brigid did her level best to let him off the hook. "It's okay, Dr. Woodcomb," she said with a gracious smile. "You're just helping me relax. This is the first time I've done anything like this. You're just boosting my confidence."

That helped a lot. And luckily Devon had his good friend, Carina, there to lend her own brand of moral support. "Nope," she said matter of factly with her own grin. "He's completely checking you out. Take it from an expert on men checking out women. In his mind, you're not even wearing that blouse right now. And the things that he's imagining doing to you… well let's put it this way. They're not very gentlemanly. If our mission was to capture Devon, our biggest challenge would be to get him to concentrate long enough to answer our questions. We'd be done by now. One more button and he'd give up any secret we could dream up to ask. Two more and he'd sell Ellie into an oil sheik's harem if you asked him to."

Now poor Devon was beside himself. But the teasing did break a bit of the tension. "Thanks a lot," he said as he shot an if-looks-could-kill glance at his two 'friends'. "With friends like you, who needs Fulcrum?" Then he turned to Brigid… and made a conscious effort to look her directly in the eye. "I'm genuinely very sorry," he said. "It's true that I think you're perhaps the most beautiful woman I've ever met. But I love my fiancé very much. I honestly mean no disrespect. Maybe we can start over. I promise to not look in your general direction any more if you'll put away the Dr. Woodcomb and call me Devon."

That got a genuine smile. Even more, to Casey's amazement, Brigid sided into Devon and placed her head against his arm for a beat. "You're very sweet," she said. "Okay, Devon. If you realize it or not, you did just boost my confidence a bit. Thank you. In fact, perhaps you can do me a favor."

Devon shot Casey, who was standing with his mouth open at this unexpected turn, a gloating look. "Of course," he said. "What kind of favor?"

"Well," Brigid said. "Perhaps when Cole gets back, it might not be such a bad thing if he had to watch me flirt with you for a bit. All in good fun, mind you. I can return the favor when I finally get to meet your Eleanor that I've heard so much about."

Devon grinned and shot his gloating look towards Carina. "Of course," he said. "But Cole is quite a large man. He won't get angry?"

"Trust me," Brigid said quickly. "He knows a lot better than to ever let on that he's jealous around me, not after what I've had to go through in the past month. I would never ask, especially since I've known you for about ten minutes. But I've heard so much about you all that I feel like I'm among friends. That's why I agreed to this in the first place. You're good people, caught up in circumstances that you had no control of. And you're trying to do the right thing. How could I turn my back on that? Don't worry. I won't let it go very far. I'm not out to actually hurt him. I never thought of myself as the jealous type. But he deserves a small taste of that bitter medicine I've had to drink, don't you think? If only to know himself what it tastes like. All of the stories that I've had to listen to. What's good for the goose and all that?"

Devon couldn't keep the silly grin from his face, even though he was far from comfortable with the idea. "Umm," he said cautiously. "As long as it stays in good fun."

"Oh don't worry," Brigid replied quickly. "I'm thinking surely nothing past some second base necking." But then she saw the look of horror on Devon's face and couldn't keep in the laugh. "Don't worry, Devon. I'm just having a spot of fun with you. Joining in the crowd as they say. It won't be that bad." But it wasn't until Brigid saw the approving nod and grin from Carina that she knew that she had been accepted into the team. "How do you Americans say it?" she asked. "Oh yeah…"

"Payback is a bitch."

x-x-x-x-x

It went pretty much like Sarah had anticipated. Once Dean closed the door to the room, he was ready to settle in for a bit and get the action started… until Sarah reminded him of how much more comfortable they would be on the plane. Then he couldn't get out of that room fast enough.

It was a short, mostly wordless drive to the airport. It was good that it was a short drive since he was spending much more attention in trying to look down her shirt than he was on the road. As Dean parked the car Sarah debated with herself how to act. She wasn't sure. Should she appear as an agent working with a partner? Or a girlfriend on a romantic date? That question was answered quickly when Dean led her as he walked towards a man standing just outside of the security perimeter. Since Sarah didn't know who this guy was, where his loyalty was, or how much he knew, she decided that it had better be girlfriend. So she looped her arm through Dean's and smiled at him. If he was at all surprised by the show of affection, he didn't show it.

"Agent Smyth," Dean said as he shook hands warmly. "Are we ready?"

"Absolutely," Smyth replied, his eyes fixed on Sarah.

"I'm sorry," Dean said. "How rude of me. This is Agent Sarah Burton. We're going to take a little tour of the plane after we're finishing with our assignment… alone. We may be a while."

Sarah had to struggle to keep the wince off her face. Oh, she knew that Dean would brag that he was about to get laid. Nothing unexpected about that. But introducing her as an agent. This guy would probably know that she wasn't MI-6. Thankfully, Dean hadn't said anything like that. Hopefully he wouldn't think too much about it. Perhaps he would assume she was from some other country. At this point, there was nothing she could do but play it out anyway.

When they got to the plane and through the security checkpoint, Dean opened the door to the luggage compartment. "Maybe you'd rather wait for us out here," he said to Sarah. "We'll just be a few minutes."

"I wouldn't hear of it," Smyth objected with a warm smile. "Leaving such a beautiful woman standing all by herself? Come and keep us company while we work."

Really having no choice, Sarah walked up the plank way between the two men. Her spy instincts were ringing off the hook. She didn't like the vulnerability of her position at all. Once they were in the plane and out of sight, she turned to Dean. "How long is this going to take?" she asked. "I was hoping to use the ladies room on the plane. Maybe I can go back to the terminal for a minute."

"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible," Smyth said.

When Sarah looked down, she saw the dart sticking from chest.

"Well, well, Agent Walker," Smyth said with a grin. "When you wake up, maybe we can find a creative way to get you to answer some questions… like what the hell you're doing here."

Then Sarah's world went dark.

x-x-x-x-x


	48. Sleeping Beauty

_Content Warning: There is going to be a tad more adult language in this chapter than my norm. I'm always going to stay within a T rating. But still, if you're squeamish about such things, you might want to skim especially the first couple scenes. Also if you're particularly sensitive to romantic silly foolishness, proceed at your own discretion._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Sleeping Beauty**

x-x-x-x-x

Oh come now Prince Phillip. Why so melancholy? A wondrous future lies before you - you, the destined hero of a charming fairy tale come true. Behold - King Stefan's castle. And in yonder topmost tower, dreaming of her true love, the Princess Aurora. But see the gracious whim of fate - why, 'tis the self-same peasant maid, who won the heart of our noble prince but yesterday. She is indeed, most wondrous fair. Gold of sunshine in her hair, lips that shame the red red rose. In ageless sleep, she finds repose. The years roll by, but a hundred years to a steadfast heart, are but a day. And now, the gates of a dungeon part, and our prince is free to go his way. Off he rides, on his noble steed, a valiant figure, straight and tall! To wake his love with "loves' first kiss"! And prove that "true love" conquers all! – Maleficent from The Sleeping Beauty

x-x-x-x-x

Fred White was sitting at his desk when Daniel Shaw knocked and quickly popped his head in the door. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Shaw asked.

"Yes," White said. The simple fact that he was allowing Shaw to come to his office was a clear signal of how confident they were. "I just want to make sure that everything is ready. We're in the home stretch."

"Yes, sir," Shaw replied. "I just talked to our man. He is all set. I've also talked to the team leads personally. All ten teams are ready for tomorrow's attacks."

"Are there any outstanding issues?" White asked?

"Only that the Bartowskis are still at large," Shaw replied, unsure of how much detail to go into. This was a sore subject with him. "But they won't be able to evade us for long."

"Don't worry, Daniel," White said. "We'll get her for you. I'm going to make it a top priority."

Shaw's eyes went wide. That wasn't good news, it was great news. If White would really make their capture a national priority, they would have no place to go, no way to buy food, no way to live. They wouldn't last a week. Now to just figure out what to do with Ted Roark… but one bullet would solve that problem. "Thank you, sir," he said. "Don't worry about a thing. Tomorrow's your day."

Daniel Shaw left the office with a smug look. This was perfect. He had everything going for him. He had all the power that the United States government could provide. Soon she'd be crawling at his whim, quite literally. Tomorrow was truly the beginning of the end.

The only problem was that Shaw had miscalculated. He really didn't know Chuck or Sarah at all. He had totally underestimated their assets and the incredible dedication of their team. He had also underestimated what they were willing to do for each other. But mostly he had ignored the power of their incredible bond. It was a fatal mistake.

Yes, he was right. Tomorrow was the beginning of the end… but for him.

x-x-x-x-x

Actually it turned out that both Carina and Casey were right. Carina was right in that men were defenseless against a beautiful woman showing them the promise of a peek down her shirt. Casey was right in that it couldn't be Carina's shirt in this particular instance. But when it came down to it, capturing the Fulcrum Agents was a piece of cake. All Brigid had to do was walk past the car where the two men were sitting, turn towards them, and bend over pretending to have an issue with her shoe. Carina and Casey were in the back seat with guns pressed not very gently into the men's necks before they could even blink. They were both quickly relieved of their weapons.

Devon quickly performed his assignment and whisked Brigid out of the area and back to the room where they agreed to meet.

In the car Carina did all the talking. And actually, her words probably carried more weight than Casey's would have anyway. "I'm not in a real good mood," she growled. "I hate traitors. And the sad fact of the matter is that we only need one of you low life insects. So the first one that gives me even the slimmest of excuses is going to find his fucking brains splattered all over this windshield like a bug on a summer night – except in your case the brains are going to be on the inside of the car. Do we understand each other?"

Both men nodded quickly.

Carina drew her gun back a few inches and slammed it back sideways into her man's head. "I asked you a fucking question," she snarled. "I expect a verbal response. Now do we understand each other?"

"Yes," the man said while clearly resisting the temptation to rub his bruised head.

Carina, who was clearly enjoying herself, repeated her move with the gun and slammed it into his head again. "You'll address me as ma'am, traitor," she growled.

"Yes, ma'am," the Fulcrum Agent quickly said with a wince, clearly hoping that was the correct answer to avoid another blow to his head which was already on fire. "We understand each other."

"Good," Carina said sarcastically. "Glad to hear it. Here is what is going to happen. We're going to get out of this car and take a walk. Just a simple warning. I'm a pretty good shot, top ten percent in my graduating class. But my partner here is the best shot I've ever seen. If you're stupid enough that you're thinking of running when we get out of the car, understand that your chances of getting away are zero. We're going to have someone ask you some questions. Cooperate, and this can happen without too much discomfort on anybodies part. Agreed?"

"Yes, ma'am," both men quickly agreed.

"Okay," Carina said as she opened her door. "Let's go. Just one last bit of warning. The person who is going to ask you the questions… she's not nearly as nice as I am. The woman that you tried to get raped two days ago is her sister."

"I wouldn't piss her off if I was you."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole stared intently as the two men walked towards the plane with Sarah sandwiched between them. He halfway expected Chuck to freak out. And there was certainly some concern in Chuck's voice. But overall Cole had to admit, Chuck was fairly, impressively calm.

"What's up?" was all Chuck said. But it was enough.

"That's Martin Smyth," Cole replied rather nervously as he watched Sarah standing at the rear of the plane. "Now this all makes a lot more sense." He picked up his binoculars again to try and make out what they were saying. "Come on Sarah," he said softly, more to himself than to Chuck. "Don't be a hero for once. Don't go in there with them."

Chuck quickly flashed on the name. "Martin Smyth?" he repeated in confusion as he watched Sarah walk up the ramp between the two men. "But he's on your team."

"Exactly," Cole said as he opened the door. "He knows who she is, who you are. Not only that, he's supposed to be protecting Brigid. This is as bad as it gets. The plot is bigger than we feared. Not only that, Sarah's cover is now blown. She is in serious trouble. I'll have to go get her. Chuck, I need for you to wait in the car."

"No way," Chuck said as he opened his own door. "You need me. They'll be waiting for you."

"I know," Cole said sadly. "We're going to have to abort. I'll get some of the MI-6 Agents that I hope I can trust and storm the plane."

"That's going to kill her just as surely as if you pulled the trigger yourself," Chuck said firmly. "If she isn't killed in your firefight, she surely is going to be killed when the Ring finds out that we know and withdraws. There is no way that Daniel Shaw is ever going to get his filthy hands… Look, we've been all through this. I wish there was another way out… there just isn't. We either beat them today or we eventually become slaves, forced to watch while she is forced to do whatever disgusting acts that Daniel Shaw can dream up. We can't abort. It's now or never. I can help."

Cole took a long moment to calm his beating heart. He knew that he wouldn't be able to convince his panicked friend if he too appeared emotional. "Chuck," he finally said. "I understand that you want to save Sarah. I wouldn't expect any less from you. I even admire it more than I've ever told you. But we need to face the situation here honestly. This isn't the time for you to go running off half cocked. I really need you to stay in the car."

Chuck also took a moment to calm himself. He also knew that he had to appear calm if he was going to convince this super spy. Finally he turned to face his friend and look him squarely in the eye. "I'm not half cocked," he insisted. "There is no time to explain this right now, but I know what I'm doing. I need you to trust me, and get me on that plane."

Cole stood there pondering the situation in his mind. Chuck would surely be a liability in there, and his hands were going to be more than full as it was. Chuck was right about one thing, they would be waiting for him. Not only that, Chuck and the intersect was the Ring's prime objective. There was no way he should be allowed anyplace close to them. Cole's spy instincts were screaming at him to insist that he stay in the car. But he also saw something else. He never could put words around it. But he had something of a special talent. He could read people. It was something that he could do well before he became an agent. And that talent had saved his life many, many times. He had come to trust it. And he saw something in Chuck's eyes that late afternoon… and he frankly liked what he saw. "Okay, mate," he said. "This is against my better judgment. But come on. Don't pull out your weapon until we're past security."

Chuck just grinned. "You know that I don't have a weapon," he said.

"Perfect," Cole sighed. "I should have known."

"Someday you're going to have to start carrying a gun."

x-x-x-x-x

It was really somewhat annoying.

Devon was surely going to fill the air with one I-told-you-so after another as soon as he returned. But it was sort of worth it. Because it was getting ridiculous how close Misty and Ellie were already. And they were growing even closer every day. In fact they were giggling so often and so hard that Misty had to make sure that Ellie knew she was being serious.

It was while they were clearing the table after breakfast that Misty decided to venture into that risky territory. "Can I ask Dr. Bartowski a serious question?" she asked.

Ellie could tell by her tone that she was being serious. So she looked around. If they were going to talk about medical stuff, it needed to be in private. Fortunately, Mom and Dad had already retreated back into their bedroom, for what reason, Ellie tried to block from her mind. But at least they were alone. "I don't know," she replied. "What kind of insurance are you carrying?" Then she smiled. "Of course, sweetie. Is something wrong?"

"Well," Misty began cautiously. "This is a little embarrassing. But I haven't taken a birth control pill since I left Las Vegas. What do you think I should do?"

"I think that's obvious," Ellie said with a grin. "My professional opinion is that you should stop having sex."

"No offense," Misty said with a laugh. "I mean that might work. But would you be offended if I asked for a second opinion?"

"I guess not," Ellie said as she joined in the laugh. "But let's go downstairs for a minute."

Ellie quickly led Misty down to the infirmary in the basement. "Dad thought of everything," she said. "I just wish that our hospital pharmacy was this well stocked. I'm not sure why he would have birth control on hand. But he does."

Misty reached out to take the familiar circle package of pills that Ellie was holding out only to have her pull it back. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know this is silly. But it's a doctor thing. I wouldn't feel right giving you this without making absolutely sure that you're not already pregnant. You can't take this type of birth control when you're pregnant. There is simply too high of a risk for birth defects."

Misty scoffed as Ellie pulled out a pregnancy test from the cupboard. "It can't ever get back to Casey that I took a pregnancy test," she said with a laugh. "That would freak him out for a year and a day. How about if I have to take a test, then so do you? That way if he ever finds out, I can just say it was a girlfriend thing."

So, figuring it would be easier to just take the stupid test than to argue, Ellie agreed and went to the cupboard for another test. A quick trip to the bathroom for each and they found themselves having nothing to do but wait for the required five minutes.

"I'm not sure who Dad was so paranoid about getting pregnant," Ellie said with a smile. "There are like twenty of these tests in here."

"Maybe they're working on another little brother for you," Misty teased. "From the sounds constantly coming through the door, they've certainly put in the effort."

"Very funny," Ellie said. Then to change the subject more than anything, she turned to face her new friend. "Sweetie, can I ask you something? Something personal?"

"More personal than birth control?" Misty asked with a grin. "Of course. What do you want to know?"

"Why are you a cocktail waitress?" Ellie asked. "Please don't take offense, sweetie. It's just that you're one of the smartest people that I know. You're a beautiful, athletic, brilliant woman. The honest truth is that you're a lot smarter than I am. And it seems like the only thing that you're using of all those formidable assets is your… umm your…"

"Tits?" Misty finished her statement with a soft smile. "That's what you're trying to say, right?"

"Well," Ellie said as her face turned red. "I was going to say chest. But okay."

"I'm not offended at all," Misty sighed. "Don't worry about that. It's the same thing that Devon is always saying to me. The truth is that you're right. It's just that it was too easy. Being part of all of this has opened my eyes. It's changed my life. I'm not going back to Vegas, no matter what happens between me and Casey."

"As soon as all this is over, let's sit down and figure it out," Ellie said firmly. "Promise me?"

"I promise," Misty sighed as she grabbed Ellie's hand.

Ellie knew that it was time to let her off the hook, so she put on her mock doctor voice. "While we're waiting for the results, I have some questions for my file. Just how many men have you had sex with since you left Vegas – besides Casey, that is?"

"Very funny yourself," Misty said. "I thought we were past this. You know full well that Casey is the only one." But when she looked over at Ellie, her face had suddenly lost all of its color.

"Oh my god," Ellie said, in more of a whisper than anything. "It's positive."

Misty knew that Ellie was teasing her. Except that when she looked up, Ellie was holding the strip up to show her. It was definitely positive.

"Oh my God," Misty said as she buried her face in her hands. "It can't be. Why would this have to happen? Not now. This is the worst possible thing. What will Casey think? Oh my God, he will think I'm trying to trap…"

"Relax, sweetie," Ellie was finally able to choke out. "You're not pregnant."

"I am."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Cole were standing at the bottom of the gangway that led to the baggage compartment. Cole had to do a bit of fast talking to get past the security himself without raising suspicion. But finally, he found someone who he knew well enough to ask for a quick favor… and they were in.

"Okay, mate," Cole said in a hushed voice. "You know the drill. Stay behind me. If any shooting starts turn and run."

Unfortunately, the situation was exactly as they feared. They were trying to stay low but the pathway into the plane was narrow. And when they got to the top there was simply no place to hide. And they quickly found themselves facing two armed agents. Sarah was plainly visible lying unconscious flat on her back on a big box of some kind. At least she was breathing. The rise and fall of her chest was fairly conspicuous. Chuck's jaw clinched a notch or two farther than it had been as he noticed that her shirt was completely unbuttoned and lying open.

"It was nice of you to join us," Smyth said with an evil grin. "I'll take your weapons." When Cole hesitated Smyth raised his voice. "Now," he shouted. "Or the blonde bitch gets it. That would be a real tragedy. She is so pleasant to look at. I'm really looking forward to asking her some questions… and have to talk her into answering then for me."

Finally Cole realized that he had no choice. He wordlessly held out his gun and bent his knees to place it softly on the floor.

"Very good," Smyth said as he motioned them to come further inside the plane. "This actually worked out quite well. It's unfortunate that we'll have to abort our plans for today. But there will be other chances. And we got the real prize." He didn't turn towards Chuck. In fact, he didn't take his eye off Cole for a single instant. But it was clear who he was talking to. "Mr. Bartowski, it's so nice to get to meet you. I have to say… I always wondered why Agent Shaw's standing instructions were so explicit that you both were to be captured alive. Now I can see why. She is breathtaking, even more captivating in person than her reputation. Shaw is going to pay me a pretty penny for delivering both of you to him."

Cole stopped when Smyth motioned him to, but Chuck kept walking. "That's far enough," Smyth said.

"I'm going to check on my wife," Chuck said firmly. "If you want me to stop, shoot me."

For an instant Cole had a glimmer of hope. Perhaps this was Chuck's plan. If he could distract them there was maybe a chance to get the jump on them. Unfortunately, they directed all of their attention towards Cole. They clearly didn't consider Chuck a threat.

That was a serious mistake in judgment… One for which they would pay a very high price.

Quickly, in less than the blink of an eye, both men's guns were clanging on the floor. Before Cole could even take a step to help, Chuck had spun and kicked Smyth in the gut. The force of the blow actually lifted him off his feet and sent him flying across the plane. Then Chuck quickly spun again and landed a back kick to Dean's midsection. The fight had only lasted about five seconds but for all intents and purposes, it was now over. Both men were using every bit of remaining consciousness struggling to breathe. Smyth was lying on his side groaning while Dean was on his knees doubled over. They were both totally neutralized. But Chuck couldn't resist the temptation to deliver one last uppercut to Dean's jaw. It felt good. "That was for touching my wife," he growled. Unfortunately, Dean didn't hear Chuck's explanation. He was currently taking a nap.

Sure, Cole was surprised, stunned would be more accurate, but not so surprised that he wasted any time collecting their weapons. Dean was lying prone on the floor, clearly unconscious. Smyth was still on his side doubled over gasping for breath. When he looked back over, Chuck was attending to Sarah. "How is she?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Chuck said, clearly concerned as he lovingly felt around her face for her pulse. "It looks like she's been tranqed. She is starting to move around a little. Hopefully she'll be back with us in a minute."

Cole looked around and saw the tranq gun sitting there. He ejected the clip and inspected it. "Short term tranqs," he said. "It's only designed to last ten minutes or so. She should be coming around any moment now."

That was a relief. Suddenly a grin came to Chuck's face. "I have an idea," he said. Then he dropped to a knee beside her and touched his lips to hers. "This chance doesn't come around often. It'd be a shame to waste it."

In spite of the incredibly tense situation, Cole could only shake his head and grin at the pure geekiness of his friend. "Snow White?" he asked.

"I was thinking more in terms of Sleeping Beauty," Chuck said as he broke the kiss for just an instant to answer him. "She certainly qualifies."

"That she does, my friend," Cole agreed with a sigh. "That she does."

Indeed, it was only a short moment before Sarah responded to the kiss. Then she opened her eyes.

"Yes, Sleeping Beauty," Chuck said with his grin still in full force as he pulled back. "It's your prince to awaken you with a kiss. I'm doing my best to play the part. Try not to look quite so disappointed."

Sarah was clearly still woozy as she looked past Chuck and saw Cole working to secure the two prisoners. "Are we still covert?" she more moaned than said.

"Yes," Cole reassured Sarah as he looked in her direction, obviously relieved that she was coming around. "This actually has worked out perfectly thanks to your new husband here. This victory is all his. Why didn't you tell me that we had such a fantastic weapon at our disposal?"

Sarah was regaining awareness quickly but still wasn't completely back quite yet. She didn't protest at all when Chuck attempted to assist her. She allowed him to gently help her into a sitting position. "I did tell you," she said rather numbly as she tried to shake out the cobwebs. She then noticed the state of her blouse and worked to button it. "You didn't believe me. I don't really blame you. There are some things that you simply don't believe until you see them for yourself. Chuck is definitely one of those things." Then she turned to her husband who was still standing there grinning.

Clearly she was now totally back because she was fighting the urge to laugh out loud. She knew that she should be pissed at him. When was he ever going to start to take these missions seriously? But she found that she couldn't even begin to bring herself to be mad at him, far from it. He was just so damn cute. And in fairness, he had just single handedly saved the day. With Cole Barker standing there, that was quite a statement. Maybe that deserved some slack. And honestly the only thing that she wanted to do at this point anyway was to find a real bedroom someplace, drag him off by the arm, and reward him by starting his promised wild night until he was pleading for mercy. But now that would have to wait. "Oh my God," she said as she quickly lost her internal battle with the giggles. She reached for his hand and pulled him to sit next to her. They had a few minutes for the men to regain consciousness anyway. So she rested her head on his shoulder and looped her arm around his back lovingly. He could feel her shaking her head and helplessly continuing to laugh. "Sleeping Beauty? Really?"

"You are such a nerd."

x-x-x-x-x


	49. Everybody Talks

_Content Warning: There is going to be a tad more violence in this chapter than my norm. I'm always going to stay within a T rating._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Everybody Talks**

x-x-x-x-x

Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning. – Benjamin Franklin

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was pacing nervously in the conference room that was serving as a makeshift command center. It was just outside the bank of rooms that were serving as cells for the four new prisoners. Since Sarah was the expert at interrogation, that meant she was up.

Everything had gone incredibly smoothly so far. Once Dean and Smyth could figure out where they were again after Chuck's beat down, it was easy to get them out of the plane without arousing suspicions. Cole took possession of Smyth's suitcase full of C4, more than enough to do the job. Once they were in their rooms, Casey and Cole took charge of securing them which meant they had no hope of escape. In fact they were out in the hallway standing guard, weapons at the ready. If the jut of their jaws was any indication, and it assuredly was, anybody attempting a rescue had better bring an army with them.

Of course, Chuck could tell that Sarah was on edge. "Hey," he said as he grabbed her hand. "What's wrong? I was under the impression that you have done this before."

That got a faint smile. "I have done this before," she said. "Lots of times. Come on, silly. I'm not worried about that. That's not it."

Chuck grabbed her other hand and forced her to face him. "Then what is it?" he asked.

Sarah didn't answer Chuck's question, not directly anyway. She led him to the far end of the room, clearly to give them as much privacy as possible. "Do you think that you could maybe take a walk or something?" she asked quietly. "Maybe get some air. I mean, of course take Carina with you for protection."

Chuck looked at his wife skeptically. "Come on, Sarah," he said softly. "When are you going to tell me what this really is?"

Sarah knew that trying to hide something from Chuck was a long shot at best. It was time to come clean. "Okay," she finally sighed. "I'm a hypocrite. I know that. I'm always the one that yells at you to keep personal feelings out of the missions. But I don't want you to see this."

That clearly surprised Chuck. "Why?" he asked. "Is this a seduction thing? I wasn't expecting that."

That actually got a small smile. "No, Chuck," she said with a slap to his chest. "I'm not going to be seducing anyone. They only wish. I actually think you could handle that anyway. When you're trying to get real information out of someone in this type of situation, you have to find the one thing that they secretly fear most and use it against them. And these guys are all trained on how to withstand interrogation. So to find that thing, you have to get… creative."

"Torture?" Chuck asked softly.

"Probably," Sarah admitted. "At least the credible threat of it. That's the easiest way to do this quickly. But that's not the reason. While I know you wouldn't like using those methods, I'm confident that you could handle it. But these men aren't all that afraid to die. To find that secret thing that will truly scare them senseless you have to use more psychology than force. You have to be willing to be cruel beyond belief. You have to turn into something less than human. They have to truly believe that you're about to do some horrible thing. And that usually means that you do have to be willing. I'm the very best at scaring the crap out of people, at taking big bad trained agents and turning them into blubbering ten year old girls. They called me the enforcer. I don't want you to ever meet the enforcer. It would change things."

Chuck smiled. "You really are a hypocrite, aren't you?" he asked. "Just a couple of days ago you yelled at me pretty good for my insecurities. And here you are, afraid that if I witness you doing something it'll change how I feel about you."

Sarah didn't admit anything. She just stood there, clearly unnerved. But she didn't deny it either. And that was enough.

"Listen to me very carefully, Miss Enforcer," Chuck said softly. "I'm sort of surprised and even a little disappointed that I have to say this to you but I'm going to anyway. I'm not sure when I'm going to die. Hopefully it won't be for a long time yet. But I do know one thing for certain. Whenever it happens, I'm going to die loving you. And even though I know you hate things that you can't control, the sad fact is that there isn't a damn thing that you can do about it at this point. It's something that you're just going to have to live with. No matter what evil thing that you do, I'm going to still die loving you. If you left me right now, walked out that door to run off with Daniel Shaw, and I never saw you again, I'd still die loving you. So if you're worried about doing something to mess that up, you're just being plain silly. Now go in there and do what you have to do so we can get our lives back. There may be some things I'm not too wild about. But understand something. I'm going to die loving you."

Sarah had to make a serious effort to blink away the tears that were quickly forming. There was a definite tremble in her lip. "Someday you're going to have to tell me," she whispered to keep her voice from breaking as she buried her face in his chest. "How you always know exactly what I need to hear."

"I'd tell you," Chuck said with a laugh as he rubbed her back affectionately. "If I had a clue myself. The truth is that I'm making it up as I go along."

That broke the tension. Chuck couldn't hear her laughing. But he could feel it. "By the way, that's Mrs. Enforcer," she said. "It pisses me off when people forget that I got married a couple of weeks ago. But I still am not too wild about you meeting her."

"I sure don't want to piss you off," Chuck said. "Not with a name like The Enforcer. Maybe you should take a second and compose yourself. You're not going to scare him if you walk in there crying."

"Crying?" Sarah asked with a smile, any trace of tears now long gone. "A little full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Maybe a little," Chuck answered. "Don't worry. I'm going to take the rest of the team on a little mission of my own anyway. We'll be gone for about an hour."

That certainly got Sarah's attention. "Mission?" she asked as she jerked her head up. "What kind of mission? Chuck, you can't go on a mission. We have everything planned. Please don't make me worry about you."

"Relax," Chuck said with a smile. "It's not that kind of mission. I'm sure you'll approve. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

That didn't come close to easing the concern that was plain on Sarah's face. So Chuck reached over and gently kissed her. "It'll be okay," he said. "I'm not going to be in any danger. I wouldn't do that to you. I promise."

"Trust me."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck gathered Devon, Brigid, and Carina and led them outside. He really didn't tell them where they were going. To be honest, it really didn't matter much. They were all glad to get out of that cramped conference room anyway.

It wasn't until they hit the lobby of the hotel that Carina realized where they were going. "Chuck," she said in alarm. "No. I can't."

"You said that you wanted a chance," Chuck said gently. "I'm going to make sure you get one."

Carina looked around the lobby nervously. "I just can't walk in there," she protested. "He'll throw me out on my ear."

It was the first time that Chuck had seen her so outwardly unnerved. Truthfully, it was kinda cute. "I know," Chuck agreed. "He probably would. But I think I can help. You want that, right?"

"Of course," Carina said. "What are you going to do?"

"He needs to talk to an impartial party," Chuck said. "That's why Brigid and I are going to go up there first and talk to him."

"Why me?" Brigid quickly protested.

"Well," Chuck began thoughtfully in faux seriousness. "Mostly as a favor to my future brother-in-law here. If he has to pretend to not look in your direction much longer, his eyeballs are going to explode." But then he allowed the smile that he had been fighting to finally appear. "Besides, I have another reason."

Once Chuck and Brigid were on the elevator, Chuck turned to Brigid. "About my other reason," he said. "I know that this request is going to sound strange. I have my reasons. Please don't take it the wrong way. I promise that my intentions are nothing but honorable. And if you don't want to do this, please just tell me and I'll drop it."

"But could you please take off your jacket?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah walked into the room where the first Fulcrum Agent was secured and conspicuously took her time spreading out her instruments on the table so he could see them. She seriously thought about going back to the room and changing first. After all, what she was wearing would give this lowlife the entirely wrong idea.

And indeed, his eyes widened and a smile that he couldn't have hid had he wanted to came to his face. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said as he carefully and incredibly thoroughly checked Sarah out. "This might not be so bad after all."

"Okay Bub," Sarah said as she slid off her shoes. Pumps wouldn't work for this duty. Bare feet were much better. "I'm going to ask you some questions." Sarah always called whoever she was interrogating 'Bub'. It was easy… and impersonal. "Let's start with an easy one. What is your name?"

Now Bub's smile turned into a confident smirk. "Fuck you," he said dismissively, intentionally drawing out both words. "Do you really think I'm some rookie? We both know how this is going to work. You put all of that stuff on the table to scare me. Everybody knows that you could never use any of it. You have way too many rules. Face it. If you are going to get anything out of me, it's going to be on my terms. I'll tell you what. I'll make this easy on you. Show me what you're wearing under that shirt… and I'll tell you my name. That's fair. And please don't pretend that you've never done this before. As the questions get harder, well so will I… if you get my meaning."

Sarah forced the sexy smile on her face. The truth was she didn't have to pretend. In fact, the reason that she had always enjoyed interrogation so much was that she was in control. The seduction tactics she found so distasteful were off the table. Oh, some agents used them. Carina might trade things if she thought the information was worth it. Not Sarah, she enjoyed the challenge of getting the answers the old fashioned way. "Okay. Bub," she said sweetly and nodded as she reached for the top button on her blouse. "You've got me. It sounds like you have this all figured out. We can do this your way." Then she turned and threw a vicious side kick. The blow totally surprised him. It landed directly in the middle of Bub's chest and sent him, and the chair he was secured to, flying across the room. He landed on his side not really knowing where he was.

Sarah stood and waited patiently for Bub to regain some awareness. After all, trying to reason with him when all he could think of was breathing was pointless. When she was confident that he was finally back enough so that he could understand her, she walked over and picked up the chair so that he was sitting upright again. "Hard enough yet?" she asked in faux sweetness. She couldn't resist the opportunity to have a bit of fun, so she stood in front of him and struck a model's pose. "Come on, Bub," she said as she used her hands to indicate her body. "I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything like this in your life? Do you really think there is any circumstance where a woman like me would ever willingly take her clothes off for a 'man' like you? Let's face it, Bub, not very likely, is it?"

Bub didn't answer. He was still trying to shake out the cobwebs.

"You're pretty much right about the rules," Sarah admitted after a moment. "There's a whole fucking list of them. They don't let you graduate until you've memorized every single one. They make you write papers about different theoretical situations and how the rules would apply. Then they make you perform field exercises to make doubly sure you know what you're doing. If you mess up even once, they find creative ways to punish you. It's a major pain in the ass."

Sarah walked behind where Bub was sitting, grabbed his hair, and yanked his head back until she could look in his eyes from behind. "But here's where you're wrong," she growled. "I'm no longer a CIA Agent. So that means that I'm no longer encumbered by anything as silly as interrogation rules made up by some bureaucrat who's never been in the field. The fact is that I now have no rules. Not only that, this is personal to me. I'm going to protect my husband and family. So if you think that there is something I won't do to accomplish that… it is a serious miscalculation on your part. I'm willing to spend all day in here finding out that one thing that you can't withstand. Frankly, I'm going to enjoy the challenge. Your pathetic begging and screams are just going to make me go farther and faster. I think that I'm going to start by lopping off a couple of fingers, just for fun. But make no mistake. There is one thing that is simply fact. I am eventually going to walk out of this room knowing the answer to every fucking question I ask. You know it and I know it."

Sarah released his head and walked over and picked up the large bolt cutters from the table. "So, Bub," she said, again in mock sweetness. "I'm in a generous mood. I'll let you pick. Which finger should I take first?"

Naturally he didn't offer an answer. But Sarah could clearly see the terror in his eyes. "It's a hard choice, isn't it?" she asked as she placed the cutters in place. "Maybe I should just pick. I like to start with the ring finger. After all, a man like you is not very likely to ever wear a wedding ring, right?"

"Please," Bub finally said. "We don't have to do this."

Sarah sensed that he was already close to breaking. She wasn't quite sure how she honestly felt about that. Thinking of Ellie's battered face made the thought of cutting off one of this bastard's fingers not all that unpleasant. "See," she said. "You're right again. You're getting good at this. Maybe you're not as stupid as you look. This is entirely up to you. Answer my questions and keep your fingers. Works for me. By the way, we may as well get this on the table. I'm going to be asking your buddy next door the same set of questions. If your answers don't match… well, that might very well piss me off. Do we understand each other?"

At first Bub just nodded. But then he remembered with fun with Carina in the car. "Yes, ma'am," he said.

"Good," Sarah said. "Let's get started then. Oh, Bub, there's something else that you should probably know about me. I'm not famous for being so patient. If you try and test that, it's almost assuredly going to cost you fingers. So, Bub…"

"What's it going to be?"

x-x-x-x-x

Jeff McKnight finally made it back to his hotel room for a brief nap. It had already been one hell of a day, and it promised to be even longer. He had to be back in the President's office in four hours. And he felt like crap. That didn't even come close to describing it. He felt like he had been punched in the gut… by a freight train. So the last thing that he wanted was any company. So naturally there was a knock on the door. Go figure.

When Jeff opened the door, there was a man and a woman standing there. He had never seen either of them before in his life. The man smiled and stuck out his hand. "My name is Chuck Bartowski," he said. "This is my friend Brigid."

"No kidding," McKnight said as he cautiously shook the offered hand. "Chuck Bartowski… the intersect?" Then he thought for a moment. "You're married to Sarah Walker?"

"Yeah," Chuck said. "I see the President briefed you. Can we come in?"

"Sarah and I aren't exactly friends," McKnight said nervously as he stood aside to allow them to enter the room. "That's my fault."

"I know," Chuck said. "But that was a long time ago, wasn't it? Look, Jeff. I'm pretty protective of my wife. But I'm willing to let that history be between you and her… as long as nothing of the sort ever happens again."

"Nothing of the sort will ever happen again," McKnight sighed. "The honest truth is that I'm embarrassed. I was an immature jerk. I would love the chance to apologize to her. She's pretty fiery. Do you think she would listen?"

"I'm not sure," Chuck said with a grin. "You're right, she's pretty fiery. She's probably changed a little since you knew her. I wouldn't say that she's mellowed. To say that to her actually would be a sure fire way to piss her off. But she might listen to your apology if she thought you were sincere. There's really only one way to find out."

"Okay," McKnight said. "I'll try. If she hands my head back to me, well I guess it's no more than I deserve. But I'm sure you didn't come up here to talk about that."

"You're right," Chuck said. "I didn't. I came here to talk about Carina. I know that this is forward and pushy at best… and rude bordering on inappropriately personal at worst. But I don't have time for anything else. So I'm just going to put it on the table. How do you feel about her?"

At the mention of Carina, McKnight's shoulders visibly slumped. "What's there to talk about?" he asked. "She played me for a fool. She got me to betray my duty by pretending to be in love with me. Does it really get worse than that? She's probably somewhere laughing at me right now."

"Okay," Chuck said. "That's a perfectly reasonable reaction. I hate the idea that the CIA could teach anyone to be that cruel. And I know why she did it, in fact I signed off on it. But that still doesn't make it right. That's basically one of the reasons I'm here trying to fix this. And I can tell you for a fact that she isn't laughing. But you really didn't answer my question."

"What do you want to hear?" McKnight asked with a sigh. "That I thought that I was in love with her? What good would that do? I already look like enough of a chump, don't you think?"

"Well, Jeff," Chuck said with a grin. "For what it's worth, I don't think you're a chump at all. Yes, you fell for her act but most men would. She is simply that good at it. And there is a way that this could actually work out for everyone. What if I told you that she feels the same way that you do?"

"Carina told you that she is in love with me?" McKnight asked skeptically.

"Not exactly," Chuck said. "Not with words anyway. Carina would never say that willingly. In fact, you couldn't torture it out of her. She would think it an admission of weakness. It's just who she is. Trust me. I'm something of an expert. I fought the same battle with Sarah. If you want to ever hear her say those words to you, you're going to have to get creative in getting her past that kind of thinking."

"Do you want to hear how?"

x-x-x-x-x

Brigid's grin was conspicuous as she put on her jacket while they were riding down the elevator. So much so that Chuck was forced to grin back. "What?" he asked.

"You're a sly rascal," she said with a laugh. "Cole warned me all about you. He told me that I'd feel like I'd known you for years… that you would have me laughing out loud like a giddy schoolgirl. He told me that I would think of you as a best friend ten minutes after we met. I didn't really believe him. But he was right."

"That's nice," Chuck said. "You're all he wanted to talk about in Cancun. I'm looking forward to us all getting closer too. But why does that make me a sly rascal?"

"You knew what you were doing the whole time," Brigid said, still laughing. "That's why you wanted me to take off my jacket. You were testing him. And once he passed you helped him."

"Yeah," Chuck agreed as his grim broadened. "He clearly passed. He really didn't give you a second look. It was almost rude. I was feeling bad for you. Don't worry, Devon will probably take up the slack."

"Don't feel bad for me," Brigid said with a laugh. "You all are embarrassing poor Devon. He is just being sweet. But, Chuck, tell me something. Why would you go so far out of your way to help this man that you've never met and your wife can't stand?"

"He clearly loves her," Chuck answered. "And nobody should hurt like those two are currently hurting. There are a lot of things that I hate about this spy life. But Carina is a good person, a bit misguided perhaps, but nice… and an honest to goodness hero. Maybe it's time that someone looked after her once in a while."

"Is she going to see it that way?" Brigid asked gently. "I know a thing or two about spies and love. I believe you proudly wear some of those same scars as well. They don't mix very well. Are you sure that's what she wants?"

"Oh hell no," Chuck quickly replied with a quick laugh. "In fact, I'm sure she doesn't want it… yet. We'll see in a few hours. Maybe I'll need to stay out of her way for a while."

Brigid just shook her head, clearly enjoying the situation. "Sly rascal," she said, more to herself than to Chuck.

x-x-x-x-x

McKnight was actually expecting this knock at the door, so he was quick to open it. "Carina," he sighed as he opened the door. "If that really is your name anyway. What do you want?"

Carina was anything but her normal confident, sexy exuberant self. In fact, she looked pretty nervous. "Chuck said that you're willing to talk," she said softly. "Thank you for that. I was hoping… Look, Jeff, can I come in for a second?"

"Why?' McKnight said sharply. "So you can laugh at me some more?" But actually, in contrast to his harsh words, he stood aside and allowed her access to the room.

Carina quickly found that she couldn't look at the hurt in his eyes, so she found something on the floor that was suddenly interesting. "I'm sorry that you heard it the way that you did," she said shakily. "I was hoping to be able to tell you myself a bit more gently. Nobody is laughing at you. We needed access to the President without anybody knowing. We knew that your security team was compromised. We just didn't know who. This is the only way we could think of to accomplish that."

"So," McKnight said, clearly trying to keep his voice from breaking. "It's true. You played me as a mark. Why didn't I see that coming?"

"Because I'm the best," Carina said sadly. "Yes, I played you. I'm not even sorry about that. It was my duty. The truth is I'd do it again tomorrow without even thinking about it. Honestly those first couple of nights I couldn't even stand you. But then something happened. You relaxed and stopped trying so hard to impress me into bed. We started to have a good time together. You made me laugh, and that isn't easy to do. I found myself looking forward to our next date. The truth is that we're a lot alike. I am sorry that you're a victim in this. I'm especially sorry that I've hurt you, very sorry. I'd like to see what could happen…"

"Great," McKnight interrupted sarcastically. "Now I suppose you're going to tell me that you love me."

That actually got a small smile. Yes, it was a sad smile, but still. "If you ever expect to hear the words 'I love you' come out of my mouth, I'm afraid that you have the wrong girl," she said with a sigh. "I'm a spy. We don't fall in love. You know that. But having said that, yes. This sort of snuck up on me but I began to like what we had. I… Jeff… Look, the plain truth is that I began to like it a lot. I've never had anything like it. I'd like to see where it goes."

"Come on, Carina," Jeff said angrily. "How could I ever trust you? You got me to betray my duty by pretending that you were in love with me."

"I… I don't know," Carina admitted sadly. "I understand that you don't trust me. I really can't blame you for that. Maybe there isn't but if there was anything I could do to get that trust back, I'd do it. I really want a chance to make this work. And not only because I feel guilty. If sex…"

"Please don't try and offer me sex," McKnight interrupted quickly. "We both know that sex doesn't mean much to you. We had tons of sex. That's the main weapon you used against me. You said you'd do anything. Did you mean it? It's going to have to be a hell of a lot more than just sex."

"Okay," Carina said. "You're right. I said anything. If there is something, please tell me and I'll do it."

"Chuck was right," McKnight said with the beginnings of a smile. "There is only one thing you could do that I could trust. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you love me."

"And mean it."

x-x-x-x-x


	50. The Milk Man

_I hadn't planned on posting two chapters this week. But as they say, Merry Christmas._

_Content warning: As the story gets tenser (more tense?), I'm going to be a bit freer (more free, lol?) with the adult language._

_Okay, let's ratchet up the tension a bit._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Milk Man**

x-x-x-x-x

_Milk – It does a body good. – Elsie the Cow_

x-x-x-x-x

Carina just stood there for a long moment, almost like she wasn't quite sure if she had heard him correctly. "Jeff," she finally said, so faintly that he had to strain to hear her. "You don't really want that. Didn't you hear me? I'm a spy. I can't be in love. It's simply not in the job description. I'm not even sure what love is. Look, I'll do anything you want. I'll go with you to visit your parents in Florida and be your devoted doting girlfriend. I'll take care of you. I'll make any fantasy you've ever had in bed come true. I'll even move in with you if you want. But please don't ask me for that."

"That's exactly what Chuck said you would say," McKnight said with a confident smile. "He correctly pointed out that all the things you just offered are things you would do with a mark. I want something that you wouldn't give to a mark. You asked me what it would take for me to trust you again. This is what it would take."

"Are you punishing me?" Carina asked softly. "Is that what this is? Of course. You're punishing me. You're asking me for something that you know I can't give you."

"Here's the deal," McKnight said. "I'm not punishing you. I'm trying to help you. I think that you can give it to me. I think that you actually want to, you're just scared. That's what Chuck thinks too. I know that I'm asking for a lot from you. If you can get over that fear… and do this for me, I'll know that we have something. And if you're not willing to… well then we probably don't. I'll tell you what. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me. I'll settle for that."

Carina didn't answer. She just looked at the floor for a long moment. "I have to go kill someone," she finally said.

Then she ran out of the door.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Chuck, Devon, and Brigid were back in the makeshift command center, Casey came looking for Devon. "We need you to take a look at one of the prisoners," he said. "He's in pretty bad shape."

Immediately Chuck jumped up. "Is Sarah okay?" he asked.

"Relax, sport," Casey said with a grin. "Sarah is fine. She had her guys crying like babies. The Ring guy held out for almost ten minutes. Stupid bastard clearly still thought that he had a chance to charm her. That didn't work out so well for him. The other two caved in about six. She's just wrapping up questioning the last one now. It's Cole that went sort of nuts on his guy."

Now it was Brigid's turn to jump up in concern. "Is Cole okay?" she asked.

"He's fine," Casey quickly said. "He'll be here in a few minutes to brief us."

As soon as Devon left with Casey, Chuck got up to get a cup of coffee. "Don't worry," he said. "How much of this spy stuff have you been involved with?"

"Almost nothing," Brigid answered sadly. "In fact, it's the reason why we broke up in the first place."

"I understand," Chuck said with a sad smile. "Trust me. I completely understand. If it helps at all, he's crazy about you. He was a wreck in Cancun wondering how to get you back. If you ever need someone to talk about it, I'd…"

Chuck didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Because he found himself pressed up against the wall with his arm pinned painfully behind his back.

"You sonofabitch," Carina growled as she pulled him back from the wall a bit and slammed him back into it. "I thought you were my partner. Love, Chuck? You really had to go there? Putting it in his head that I'm in love with him? What gives you the right to fuck with my personal life?"

"You're hurting me," Chuck said with a bit of a whine.

"No shit," Carina growled as she pulled him back and slammed him back into the wall for a third time. "You didn't answer my question. Before I kick your ass, I want to know. What gives you the right?"

"In all fairness," Chuck said, still wincing from the pain. "You did ask for my help. Why don't you let go for a second and we'll talk? If you still want to kick my ass after that, well okay."

Carina was still breathing fire. But she did reluctantly release him. Adding to the volatility in the room was the fact that Sarah picked that exact moment to walk in the door. Her reaction to seeing Chuck being slammed into a wall was… well, fairly predictable.

So now Chuck was caught between two of the most lethal women on the planet, both breathing fire. His first move was to try and keep Sarah from killing Carina. "It's okay," he quickly said as he wrapped his arms around her. "Sarah, I'm not hurt. We're going to talk about this."

And that almost worked. Until Sarah discovered that his lip was bleeding a little from one of the impacts with the wall. In truth, it was a minor scrape. Tomorrow there would be no trace. But Sarah looked at it as if it was a gunshot wound. "Sonofabitch," she said. "You cut him. You've been asking for this all week. Now I'm going to kick your ass all around this room."

Naturally, Carina was in no mood to back down from anybody. "Bring everything you've got, Blondie," she growled.

So now Chuck had to move fast to get this from escalating totally out of control. So he turned to his wife. "Sit down," he firmly demanded.

There was only one person in the whole world that could hope to talk to Sarah in that tone and live to tell about it. Fortunately, it was her husband. So she grudgingly complied.

"You too," Chuck said to Carina, just as firmly as he indicated the opposite side of the table.

Carina was also not accustomed to letting people talk to her in that tone. And she wasn't married to him. But amazingly, for some reason she also complied.

"This is ridiculous," Chuck said in a rant looking directly at Sarah. "We have more than enough enemies. The last thing we need to be doing is fighting each other."

Chuck being cross at her was probably Sarah's very least favorite thing. So she looked down at the table guiltily. "I'm sorry," she sighed.

Then Chuck turned to Carina. "And you," he said. "Do you really think that we're stupid? What? Are we supposed to sit here and pretend that it isn't true?

"So," Carina muttered. "You think that I'm in love?"

"Do I think?" Chuck asked incredulously. "Carina, honestly, what color is the sky in your world? It's so obvious to anybody who is paying the least bit of attention that you're in love. Why don't you grow up a little, get over all this spy crap that has turned you into something that's less than human, and go and maybe try being happy for once? Would that honestly be so horrible? It's mind boggling."

Sarah finally picked her head up. "I'll admit to being a little confused," she said. "Carina, isn't this the same man who you were just telling me the other day that you were screwing in bed and pretending he was Steven?"

Predictably, that got a groan from Chuck. "What?" he asked as he let his head fall to the table with a loud thump. "You never told me about that. Why would you tell me that now? That is just wrong."

That actually got something of a sad smile from Carina. "I didn't say we were in bed," she said. "Just that we were, well, screwing. Jeff and I never actually made it to the bed all that often. I… umm, I may have not been totally candid with you the other day."

"Why would you lie to me?" Sarah demanded.

"Because I knew exactly what would happen," Carina quickly said. "If I had told you the truth, that I was afraid that I was falling for my mark, you would have laughed at me. Even worse, you would have stayed in there all day telling me how great it is to be in love, how you never would have believed it, and how I should give it a chance. I probably would have been forced to shoot you. Then the team would get all pissed at me. Who needs that? And I do admire Steven. That part was the truth. He's amazing. We ended up spending all night talking. So I figured if I made up some erotic sex fantasy about him, it would creep you out and you'd leave, which you did. If that hadn't quickly worked I was about to entertain you by describing my made up sexual fantasy with Steven in vivid detail. I had quite the imaginary wild time planned. For some reason, I see him as sort of on the kinky side when he comes out to play. I could describe it for you now if you'd like."

Sarah bit her lip to keep from laughing at the sound of the second thump of Chuck's head wordlessly hitting the table. "No thank you," she said. "But since you just tortured my poor husband much worse than cutting his lip, you're going to have to listen to me now. Do you really think that I don't know how scary it is for a spy to admit that she's in love with someone? I know what you're feeling exactly."

"I don't think that you do," Carina protested.

"Exactly," Sarah insisted pointedly as she pounded the table for emphasis. "I know the feeling exactly. Are you kidding me? Don't even try it. I lived it every day for two years. And here is all I'm going to tell you. I'm done trying to tell you what to do with your life. We both know how that's worked out so far. I've tried and tried until I was blue in the fucking face and you've done whatever you wanted anyway. Go ahead and hump every single person who has the right equipment and call yourself happy. Fair enough. That's your total right. But the honest, straight up, no bullshit truth here is that there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't look back and wish I could have those two years back. It's that great."

"Maybe that's something you should think about."

x-x-x-x-x

Jeff McKnight had given up any hope of getting in a nap before the meeting with the President. So the third knock on the door wasn't all that surprising.

Carina didn't wait for an invitation. She just pushed into the room. "Okay, Jeff," she demanded angrily with her nostrils flaring. "Tell me exactly what in the hell you think love is. We've known each other for a week. Even if we were normal people, isn't it sort of quick to be talking about love?"

McKnight didn't back down a bit in the face of Carina's obvious anger. Indeed, it was a very good sign. So he forced himself to be calm. "It's very quick," he agreed. "You're right about that. A month ago if someone would have told me that I would be in love with someone who I knew for ten days, I would have laughed at them. Maybe things happen faster because we're agents. Maybe it's the situation we find ourselves in. And maybe you're not. That's fair. That's why I'd settle for you telling me that you're not in love now but you're willing to see if it happens. That would be completely appropriate. Maybe it's something that we'd have to grow into. It seems like that would be the easy way out of this for you. But you had a chance to say that. You couldn't, could you? This isn't about you being in love, we both know that you are. It's about you being able to admit it."

Carina didn't answer… but she didn't have to.

"What is love?" McKnight continued once he realized that Carina wasn't going to respond. "Wow, that's pretty hard to define, isn't it? It's probably a little different for every person. But I would say that when you're in love with someone, they become part of you. You want them to be happy. You worry about them, probably more than you worry about yourself. You want what's best for them. I love you, Carina. That's exactly why I'm not going to let you off the hook on this."

"You don't know a thing about me," Carina insisted without looking up. "Everything that you think that you know is a lie. I don't have a rich daddy. In fact, I've never even met my daddy. I'm a spy. It's all I know how to do. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Not only that, seduction is my specialty. I'm the best at it because I'm able to totally put myself into the role. I can't be undercover worrying about how my boyfriend is going to feel if the situation calls for me to wildly fuck whatever terrorist that I'm assigned to compromise that week, which seems to happen a lot. Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Boyfriend sounds pretty high school-ish, don't you think?" McKnight asked with a smile that was in direct contrast to her anger. "I think that I prefer fiancé." Then he saw her head shoot up. "Don't worry," he said quickly. "I'm mostly kidding. I don't care if we ever really get married. But I'm serious in that my having a fiancé would make my parents happy. And you're right. I don't know anything about your history or background. I only learned your real last name a few minutes ago. But I think that I know who you are. You're also right in that you can't be undercover worrying about me at all. That would make you unsafe. Do I want to think about you in bed with a terrorist? Of course not. But I do understand what it means to sacrifice for duty. I'm willing to put up with a lot in order to support you. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be able to live with meaningless sex as long as it is solely for an assignment. I assume that you're willing for us both to be monogamous outside of missions."

Carina's anger had perhaps settled down a bit… but she was still not exactly smiling. "I'm not a normal girl," she warned sullenly. "I never have been, even before I became a spy. The whole romance thing… holding hands, walks on the beach, Valentine's Day, pet names, anniversary presents… those kinds of things make me hurl."

"Don't worry," McKnight laughed. "I'm not famous for being a romantic type person either. I've never had anybody who I actually wanted to take care of before. I'll have to see if that changes me into a hopeless romantic somehow. But I don't think so. If I ever get sickening, just tell me and I'll stop. After all, if we're going to be together long term, I have to be willing to make adjustments too."

Carina took a huge breath, calmed herself, and forced herself to lift her head and look him in the eye. "Jeff, can I ask you something?" she asked. "Seriously, why is this so important to you? I'm willing to give you all the milk you could possibly drink. Why are you so insistent that you pay for the cow? It's just words."

"It's not just words," McKnight quickly protested. "If it was, you wouldn't have any problem saying them."

Carina didn't smile, far from it. But the twinkle in her eyes said volumes. "If I do this," she sighed, "and understand that I'm not agreeing to anything yet, it has to be with the understanding that we're both all in. Jeff, if you fuck me over here, I'll bury your body in a shallow grave."

"Agreed," McKnight said with a grin. "For the record, I believe that you would. But it's never going to happen. The truth is we're not that different. I've spent my adult life avoiding any semblance of a relationship. I spent every night in bars, trying to pick up anybody wearing panties who found themselves horny enough or drunk enough to be willing to go home with me. Then I met you, and I realized something. For the first time, I was actually happy… and it was more than just the sex. In fact, as great as it was, the sex was the least of it. Now I can't imagine going back to the way it was before. I understand completely what you were saying when you said you couldn't stand me at first. Even I don't like that guy. I have to tell you, I'm excited about the chance to be with someone as fantastic as you, someone who I can take care of, and someone who I can count on to take care of me. I know it's a bit scary, for me too. I'm asking you to take a chance on me, on us. I'm all in. I promise that I'll kill myself looking out for you."

That got a smile in return. "You know what?" Carina asked. "I believe you. Still, this is a rest-of-my-life type decision that you're asking for. No matter what you call it, if we're openly engaged and living together, we're more or less married. The ceremony or lack thereof would be purely formality. Can I have a little time to think it through?"

"Sure," McKnight said with a bit of faux sarcasm. "We're both ready to leave on separate life-or-death missions later today. We're not sure if we're ever going to see each other again. Take all the time that you need."

That actually broke the tension that had been filling the room and they both started laughing. "I'm sorry that I'm making this so hard," Carina said as she stepped into his open arms. But then she quickly turned serious again. "I'm not trying to hurt you," she said softly. "I hope you know that it's not you that I'm questioning, no matter what happens. It's me. There has never been anyone else in my life who I would have even considered this with for a second. I'd love to make you happy. I'm just not sure that I can do it. Can I ask for a favor? If I can't give you what you need, can we still be friends at least? I can't stand the thought of you hating me."

"Yes, Carina," McKnight said with a sigh. "We can still be friends."

It wasn't quite clear who made the first move, but suddenly they were gently kissing. Well, maybe that wasn't all that accurate. It might have started off gently, but it quickly picked up steam until it wasn't exactly kissing. Their tongues were dancing a mile a minute.

"I need for you to understand something. I wasn't kidding about the shallow grave thing," Carina said as she broke the hot session for an instant, clearly only half joking. "I'm just saying."

"I know," McKnight said. "I wasn't kidding either. It's never going to happen."

"Okay," Carina said as she resumed the hot action. "Just… be careful what you wish for."

McKnight could feel her fumbling with his belt buckle. Clearly she was some kind of expert in this area because his pants hit the floor around his ankles so quickly that he couldn't react. "Friends?" he asked with a sly grin as he broke the kiss.

"Now see," Carina said as she slid her hand down his stomach and into the waist band of his boxers. "This is one of those things that you're going to have to learn about me. This is how I'm used to acting with my friends. Besides…"

"Aren't you thirsty for a tall glass of that milk?"

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie and Misty had quickly established somewhat of a routine. After breakfast they would head down to the lake and work out for a few hours. Even though there was a full workout room in the barn, Misty preferred the water. After all, that was the best place to train hard without hurting yourself. And Misty was a world class expert at training to swim. There were tons of things that she could show Ellie. In a lot of ways it was like being with Devon… except that Misty didn't rankle Ellie nearly as much. Ellie usually avoided working out with Devon because she usually came away frustrated. When Devon was working out, he became something of a control freak. Not Misty, she was simply easy going. The truth was that Misty's workouts were every bit as vigorous as Devon's. They were just a lot more fun.

After they were done working out they would go back to the house around noon and have a light lunch with Mom and Dad. Then it was back to the lake. The afternoon session was much more relaxed. When they swam, it was just for fun or to cool off. Sometimes Misty would take Ellie out in the canoe. But most of the time was spent lying on their blanket soaking up the warm summer sun. Then they would head back to the house and prepare dinner together, which was the big meal of the day. Mom tried to help that first night, but the truth was she just got in the way. So she quickly learned to leave the kitchen to the girls. Whatever Mom and Dad were off doing, well frankly neither girl was really all that interested in finding out.

Frankly, the afternoon was Ellie's favorite part of the day. They would just lay there and talk. Oh, at first the lack of bathing suits bothered her a bit. But now even that seemed pretty natural, very natural actually. Ellie had to admit that lying around in wet, clammy t-shirts that you could see right through anyway didn't make much sense. At least there was nobody around. Dad promised her that there weren't any cameras anywhere close to the lake.

"I can't wait to tell Devon that he's going to be a daddy," Misty said. Then she noticed Ellie's look. "Don't worry," she said soothingly. "I know that's something you'll want to do in private. I hope that you're not going to make me wait too long to get my digs in."

"Never fear," Ellie said with a laugh. "I need all the help I can get keeping him from floating away."

"He's going to be excited," Misty agreed. "Maybe I can find some way to keep him down to earth… like reminding him about messy diapers… two in the morning feedings."

"Colic," Ellie chimed in. "Allergies… The first day of school… Saving for college."

"Every parent's worst nightmare," Misty said with a giggle. "The talk about the birds and the bees."

They were laughing so hard that they didn't notice the group of men walk up until they were almost upon them. But as they scrambled to their feet holding the blanket to cover themselves, they definitely noticed the guns pointed direct at them.

"Put your hands on top of your heads," the lead man ordered.

"We don't have clothes on," Misty protested. "If we do that, we'll have to drop the blanket."

"Now!" the man ordered as he cocked his weapon menacingly.

Ellie turned to Misty. "Just do it, sweetie," she said as she complied with the order. "These guys aren't messing around."

Misty reluctantly followed suit. Naturally the blanket slid to the ground. There was nothing to do but allow them to look. "I hope you're enjoying the view, pervert," Misty growled.

He, along with the entire group, made no attempt to hide the fact that their nakedness was being fully appreciated. "Actually, I am," the man said with a purely evil grin. "Thank you for asking. Your body is quite amazing. You actually should be happy I'm enjoying it so much. I'm about to disobey a direct order to hopefully get another look, perhaps in a more private setting next time. Maybe later you'll find a creative way to thank me for saving your life. After all, we were only told to bring the sister."

When Misty looked down, she could see a dart sticking out of both her and Ellie. Honestly her first reaction was annoyance. _Are you kidding me? Not again_. There was a distinct sense of deja vu. This was exactly how her adventure started in the first place. One thing for sure, she knew the way that creep was looking at her. She knew it exactly from all the times it had happened at the Casino. And when they got that particular look in their eyes it always meant trouble. There was little doubt what he meant by creative. When she glanced over Ellie had already collapsed to the ground. As the darkness overtook her she could hear the men talking.

"Load both of them on to the chopper," the lead man said.

"She's much too sexy to shoot."

x-x-x-x-x


	51. Beginner's Luck

_Remember when we first met Misty, I described her as a hero? It's time to look into why._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Beginner's Luck**

x-x-x-x-x

_God save you from a bad neighbor, and from a beginner on the fiddle. – Italian Proverb_

x-x-x-x-x

When Cole stepped into the conference room, everyone could instantly tell that something was seriously wrong. Even though he had clearly made an attempt to clean up, his clothes were still spattered with blood.

Brigid was definitely the one who knew Cole the best. And she was clearly shaken because at the first sight of him, she immediately got up and stepped over to where he was standing. "Are you okay?" she asked softly in obvious concern.

Cole's smile was designed to reassure her. But all it did was set off her alarm bells even more. After all, Cole was unshakable. If he was unnerved…

Naturally Sarah thought of Cole as a dear friend. But frankly her current concern was more mission related. And she had come to the same alarming conclusion that Brigid just had. "What's up?" she asked.

Cole looked around and sighed. It probably would be better if he could find a way to quietly brief Sarah privately without Chuck and Brigid listening. But that just wasn't going to be possible. "It was hard to get Smyth to talk," he finally said, pretty much stating the obvious. "But once he was loosened up, I'm afraid that they had a plan. This Daniel Shaw person must really have an obsession with Sarah. He's pulling out all the stops. They were going to use me to deliver the intersect to them, nothing so surprising there. But they also were going to make me deliver Sarah to him personally."

"And just how were they going to get you to do that?" Chuck asked skeptically with a grin. "Ask you nicely? Offer you money? Not very likely, is it?"

"No," Cole answered painfully. "The bastards were going to take Brigid."

That quickly ended whatever amusement that Chuck was finding in the situation. As much as Chuck tried not to think about it, the image of Cole being forced to watch scenes of Brigid being tortured or worse was haunting. The idea that his good friend would have to make that choice between his love and his friends brought tears to her eyes."

Cole turned to Brigid. "I'm so sorry that you got dragged into this," he said. "I don't know what to say."

Brigid didn't flinch. All she did was to rest her head on his chest lovingly. "Why on earth would you be sorry?" she asked with a smile that basically lit up the room. "You didn't you anything wrong. Look, it's no secret that I hate this nasty business. But none of this is your fault. You're the good guy. Not only that, you're my good guy."

That pretty much defused whatever tension was in the room. After all, Chuck and Sarah couldn't possibly hate Shaw any more than they already did anyway. Cole wrapped his arms around Brigid. "I love you," he whispered into the top of her head.

"And I you," was her simple yet amazingly effective reply.

And actually, the room was pretty cozy for a while. Sarah even reached over, leaned her head against Chuck's shoulder, and linked their hands tenderly. It was a nice moment… until Casey stormed in and completely upset the karma. One look at his face and it was obvious that he was ready to explode. "I just got off the phone with Orion," he said.

"We have a huge problem."

x-x-x-x-x

Getting the team into the President's office was easy. Jeff McKnight was the head of the entire detail. When he relieved the two agents that were on duty, they didn't think a thing about it. In fact, their "yes, sirs" were unquestionably happy. This was just about the time that the bar, along with its bountiful supply of sweet young things simply ready for the harvest, was about to get seriously hopping. And this was the last night, time to let everything go for broke.

The first thing that the President wanted after he was introduced to the team was a thorough briefing of what had happened since Cancun. Sarah cautiously took the lead. She was very careful not to appear to try and hide anything. That certainly wouldn't be appropriate when talking to the President of the United States. But there were some things that she winced telling him. They clearly had killed some fifty government agents since being on the run. But that wasn't the worst part. She had to tell him the tale of his chief bodyguard being seduced into a gross dereliction of duty… and even worse, soiling his sheets. It was probably fortunate that there would be no sleep tonight anyway.

Indeed, both Carina and McKnight's faces were pretty red.

If the President was upset by any of the news he learned in Sarah's briefing, he didn't show it. In fact he smiled warmly and thanked her. Then it was his turn to brief the team on his progress this afternoon. And that progress was significant.

As it turned out, the President was a close personal friend of Colonel Blum the commander of Fort Brag. The Commander in Chief asking for his good friend's help was sort of like asking a hungry wolf for help in eating a t-bone steak. Special Forces units were already in place to intercept the ten terrorist teams. With the intelligence that Chuck was able to provide, they secretly had all ten teams in their cross hairs and were just itching for the go order.

There was some discussion between the military people if they should move now, before the teams would have the chance to do any damage. After all, they might be able to get a confession out of someone that would yield enough evidence to implicate the V.P. But the President vetoed that idea. The only way to insure that there would be no future attempts would be to crush them now. He wanted to catch the Ring upper echelon in the act. And the way to do that was to allow them to think they had won, declare victory, and quickly find themselves wearing cuffs.

It was Sarah who suggested that they make it look as if Air Force One actually did explode. As the pilot of the team, she explained that it would be easy. All the cockpit crew would have to do was to turn off all communications and take the plane into a steep dive below radar. Then have the Air Force fighter pilots that always escorted Air Force One report an explosion. Once Air Force One disappeared from radar, they would totally buy it that it had exploded. James Dean even helped a little by making the phone call to Shaw, under Sarah's critical eye, that his part of the mission had been successful and everything was on track. It earned him the promise of a lighter sentence… and it also allowed him to keep all of his fingers. So all in all, it was a pretty wise decision.

The main worry for the team was now Casey's news about Ellie and Misty being captured. Naturally he was more than a little anxious to launch a rescue mission. The more time that passed, the less chance for a happy outcome. And they were an eight hour flight away. When he looked to Carina for support, she clearly wasn't able to offer any… or complete a coherent sentence when it came down to it. Finally, it was left for Sarah to point out the problem. Nobody knew where they were even being held. Orion was working on it but so far, nothing. There was a lot of discussion and tensions in the room were high. So much so that the President called for a ten minute break to allow tempers to cool off.

Naturally, Sarah had plans of her own for the break. And they didn't involve any cooling off.

x-x-x-x-x

When Misty could finally pry her eyes open, she found herself lying on a cot. As she finally gained enough awareness to look around she discovered that she was clearly in a dingy cell of some kind. Perhaps 'they' would be more appropriate because Ellie was lying on her own cot a few feet away. She wasn't awake yet. But she was beginning to stir a bit. Misty quickly realized that she was still naked. But at least the bastards had covered them with a sheet. Better yet, their clothes were sitting in a pile at the foot of their cots. Misty was just finishing tying up her shoes when she heard Ellie's quiet voice.

"Where are we?"

Misty knew that there was nothing to be gained from panicking Ellie. So she tried to keep the situation light. "You mean that you don't know?" she said in faux alarm. "Damn."

But Ellie wasn't in a light mood. "This is Fulcrum," she said as she moved to put on her own clothes.

Misty had heard the whole story of Orion and Frost over the last couple of days. So she made no effort to change Ellie's mind by trying to blow smoke up her skirt. After all, who else could it be? There was no sense in trying to deny it. "What do you think that they want?" she asked.

"I think that's obvious," Ellie said sadly. "This is exactly why Mom and Dad left us in the first place. They couldn't allow their enemies to know that they had loved ones. They knew that they would use us against them. Now that they know, that's exactly what's happened. They are going to use me to get Orion and Frost to give up."

"Oh shit," Misty whispered as her light bulb went on. Ellie was so obviously right. "That can't happen. We have to get out of here."

"I don't want to scare you," Ellie said. "Devon says that I'm not tactful. Maybe. But I happen to think that the only way to deal with something is to face the facts of the situation honestly. We're in a bad situation. When Shaw captured you thinking that he had me, he was being very careful. He really didn't want any bad publicity. This is different. They aren't afraid to use any methods. And I'm sorry to say it this way. But they don't need you. That's why he said that he would be looking for you to be appreciative. He meant…"

Ellie's voice trailed off. She clearly didn't want to say it out loud. But it was obvious. "He meant appreciative in bed," Misty finished her statement. "They were going to kill me," Misty whispered again. "The only reason they didn't…" Even she didn't want to say it. So just to break the mood she stepped to the door of their cell and looked around. There was only a single guard posted. But she could plainly hear the voices of others down the hall, how many she couldn't really tell. But she could see a man approaching. It was the same creep from the lake. He had what looked like a box of food for them. And that actually didn't sound all that bad. Misty didn't know how long they had been out, but it must be past dinner time because she was starved.

"I brought you some dinner," he said as he opened the cell door. One thing about this guy, he wasn't bashful. He was no less subtle checking Misty out here than he was at the lake. "You look good with clothes on too," he said with a smirk. "No offence, but I prefer them off."

Ellie interrupted, if for no other reason than to change the subject for her friend's benefit. "What are you going to do to us?" she asked.

"That pretty much depends on your parents, Dr. Bartowski," the man said. "If they cooperate, this could all be over soon. If not, well, I'm afraid that this could get uncomfortable."

"What about me?" Misty asked. "I don't have any parents to cooperate."

"Ah," the man said. "I guess that's up to you, Miss whatever your name is. It looks like you're in a somewhat of a tough spot. Perhaps you could use a friend."

"The name is Misty," she said. "And you are?"

The man seemed to consider that for a second. "You can call me Joe," he finally said.

Suddenly Misty knew exactly what she had to do. So she stopped the protest on Ellie's lips with a look. She thought about trying to put a sexy look on her face. But that would have been pointless. He was only looking at her chest anyway. That was clearly sexy enough for his tastes. "Okay, Joe," she said. "I give. Maybe you're right. Would you like to be my friend?"

Joe's face lit up into a grin. "Very much so," he said.

Misty stepped up to him and made sure that her breast brushed up against his bare arm. She looked carefully for his reaction. It was exactly what she expected. "Tell me something, Joe," she said so that only he could hear her. "I'm pretty sure that I know what you expect to begin our friendship. If I make that happen for you, can you protect us?"

Joe seemed to consider that for a second. "Maybe," he finally said. "You're asking for a lot. We'd have to be pretty good friends."

"We will be," Misty said. "It looks like I have no choice. We need to survive." Then she paused for a moment. "Can I ask for a favor?" she asked, again so that only Joe could hear. "Could we possibly do this in private? Ellie's best friend is my boyfriend. If I do what you want, she will surely tell him all about it. That would cause me to lose a boyfriend. And who knows what else we might become? He kind of has this obsessive overly sensitive thing going on about me fucking other men. That would be a shame. He's a pretty good guy. And it doesn't hurt that he does things in bed that I can't describe. Can we maybe go someplace where she can't hear us? I'd be very appreciative."

Joe paused for another long moment. "Okay," he finally said. "Let's go."

Misty was more than a little disappointed that she wouldn't get a chance to eat. She really was starving. When you were working out as hard as they had been you didn't want to miss any meals. But this opportunity couldn't be passed up. "Give me a second to explain things to her," Misty said with a smile. Then she walked over to Ellie. "Joe and I are going to go someplace and talk," she said. "I'll be back later. Do whatever they say." Then she hugged her for a long moment. "Distract the guard," she whispered as they were in their embrace.

"What are you going to do?" Ellie whispered back in alarm. "Misty, you don't have to do this. Not with this creep. He'll give you some horrible disease. We'll figure something else out."

"I have a plan," Misty whispered in frustration. "I hope it doesn't come to that. Just keep the guard distracted. I'll be right back."

"I'm going to get us the hell out of here."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was getting angry. Well an equal measure of frustration and anger. The news about Misty and Ellie had her on edge to begin with. They weren't really sure that Misty was still alive. After all, these guys were ruthless. And the simple truth was she was nothing but a complication. Being helpless was Sarah's very worst thing. And when Sarah got angry, well it was hardly ever a good thing. And angry didn't really come all that close to describing it. So finally she knew that she had to address it. As soon as the President called for the break, she pulled Carina into a quiet corner. "Okay," she said in a hushed voice but definitely pointedly. "You can act any way you'd like with your personal life. Go ahead and act like the emotional equivalent of a five year old. I've got no complaint. But when it starts to affect the mission, that's when it becomes my business. Either get your head back in the game or stay home. You haven't been paying the least bit of attention. If you go out like this doe-eyed schoolgirl with her head in the clouds, you're just going to get yourself, me, or worse yet, Chuck killed. Is that really what you want?"

Sarah was actually having a good time delivering her rant surrounded by her righteous indignation… until she looked at Carina's face.

"You don't understand," Carina said sadly. "Hell, I guess that I don't understand either. So that makes two of us."

Sarah was clearly taken aback by the sadness on her friend's face. "Okay," she said. "Tell me about it. Quickly."

Carina paused for a long moment, obviously debating how much or even if she should say anything. "You know that I'm not shy when it comes to sex," she finally began. "I thought I knew everything there was to know. But Jeff and I, just before we came here. Sarah, I never…"

"You've never felt anything like it," Sarah finished her sentence as her face broke into a smile for the first time.

"Never close," Carina admitted softly. "Oh my God, Sarah. It was almost scary. I was so consumed. I thought it was never going to end. What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything," Sarah said. Then she responded with a laugh to Carina's skeptical look. "Well not anything out of the ordinary anyway. You just experienced the difference between recreational sex and making love for the first time with someone who you truly love. I've tried about a million times to tell you how great it is. But I guess in fairness I wouldn't have believed it either. And the truth is it's going to get better. Now do you believe me?"

Carina just stood there sadly.

"Good lord," Sarah said in frustration. "Carina, I'm on the edge of kicking your ass myself. What's it going to take? Fiery letters written in the sky? Are you honestly this afraid of being happy? It's true that Jeff is not my favorite person. But come on. You're in love with the man. Go tell him."

"What if I blow it?" Carina asked sadly.

"That one's easy," Sarah said. "Just make sure that you don't blow it. Even the best relationships take work. Do you really think that there aren't times when I want to twist Chuck's head until it comes off in my hand? Put in the work. And the surest way to blow it is what you're doing to him right now. Go tell him that you don't have all the answers but that you're going to do whatever it takes to make this work. Ask for his patience as you grow into it. Tell him that you're all in and that giving up isn't ever going to be an option. If he's the man that you know he is that's all it's going to take."

x-x-x-x-x

Despite Sarah's firm dressing down, when the meeting resumed Carina wasn't doing any better. She really didn't hear much of the conversation when it was decided that Devon and Brigid would go with the President and the rest of the team would go on an RAF airplane that Cole would acquire to rejoin Orion and Frost.

She didn't even hear the President's offer to bring whatever resources it took to bear once they had identified where Misty and Ellie were being held. But for now, secrecy was their best weapon.

Her eyes were fixed on one place. And maybe he was doing a little better with the plan thing. But truthfully, his eyes were fixed on one place too. But finally, the meeting took a decided turn for the better. Jeff saw Carina visibly sigh and mouth the words across the table.

_Can I tell you something?_

Jeff simply nodded.

_I love you._

A silly grin would have been totally inappropriate for the tense situation they were in. But quite frankly, Jeff could have cared less. At that point they were the only two people in the whole world. So he mouthed them back.

_I love you too._

Naturally, Chuck couldn't resist the temptation to get a shot in. "Aww," he said quietly. "That's so sweet."

"Shut up, Chuck," Carina said, not so quietly. But her harsh words belied the grin that had taken over her face.

As soon as the meeting broke up, the team was ready to depart. In fact Casey was more than ready. After all seconds could very well matter to get Misty back in one piece. But Cole and Brigid were saying their goodbyes. Even Casey couldn't begrudge them that.

Sarah stepped up to where Carina was standing. "Go say goodbye to your boyfriend," she said with her own grin.

"You might as well," Chuck chimed in. "We're going to tease you unmercifully anyway."

Carina was already on her way over, but she paused to take a shot at Sarah. "Actually," she said over her shoulder. "He thinks boyfriend is too juvenile. He prefers fiancé."

As soon as the kiss broke, Jeff wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Thank you," he said. "I know that wasn't easy for you. I'm going to kill myself making sure that you never regret it."

"Well, actually I haven't really said it yet," Carina said. "I hope that you're happy. This is the first time in my life that I've said these words and meant them. But I love you."

"I'm not sure that happy describes it," Jeff said. "Now just make sure that you live through this."

"You too," Carina said. "Kick some ass. I'll see you when it's over."

When their goodbye kiss finally broke, Carina turned and walked back towards the waiting group. But she stopped about half way and turned back with a sly grin. "Have my rock ready," she said.

"Rock?"

"Rock," she repeated. "Hello? It was your idea. We're engaged, right? I expect a rock out of the deal." Then she held her hands about a foot apart.

"A big fucking rock."

x-x-x-x-x

Joe made a big show out of taking Misty's hand as he led her down the stairs and into the basement. He was making no effort to keep the gloating smile of someone who was surely about to get laid from his face. Once they were down there he took her to a room down the hall. By any account it certainly wasn't a romantic setting, just four cold grey cement walls and a single hundred watt light bulb hanging by a wire from the ceiling. But there was a small bed in the corner. That was probably romantic enough for his purposes.

"You wanted private," Joe said with a grin. "You can't get more private than this. This is where we interrogate prisoners. It's completely sound proofed."

Misty looked around. It certainly looked private. "Okay, Joe," she said. "We're here. You're sort of calling the shots. What's it going to take for me to be your friend? Do you have something specific in mind?"

Joe grinned with the look of confidence of being completely in charge. "Let's get something straight," he said. "This first time is only a down payment. It's going to have to be an ongoing thing, whenever I want. And just between you and me, I'm going to want… a lot. You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I'll tell you what. I'll let you decide on the specifics of this first time. Consider it something of a test. You're looking for me to protect you and your friend. The more effort that you put into making me happy, the more effort I'll put into making you safe. Does that sound fair?"

"I guess," Misty said with a sigh. "Before we get to any actual physical activity we need to talk about some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" Joe asked cautiously. "You're really not in a position to be making any demands. I can get whatever I want from you."

"Of course," Misty agreed. "But I can make this a hundred times more enjoyable for you if I want to. You can be in bed with a cold limp fish… or a fantasy girl. And let's face it, Joe. No matter how in charge you think you are, that choice is totally up to me. For me to become the fantasy girl I have a line in the sand that I'm drawing. First, you have to agree that you'll wear a condom each and every time without exception. I think that I might want to have a baby someday but, and no offense here, I don't want it to be yours. Second, if I'm going to be a plaything, it's just for you. Your merry gang of evil doers upstairs has to find their own dates. Third, understand something. I'll do my level best to be your fantasy girl, to make you happy in any way you want, but only because you're doing something for me. I expect you to keep your word about protecting Ellie and me. When we're… umm, engaged, I'm not personally involved. If I dance for you amusement or moan or ask you to go faster or kiss you and tell you how you just rocked my world, I'm just working hard to make this as exciting for you as I possibly can. When I do those things I expect you to appreciate the effort. Agreed?"

Joe was now clearly excited. So he just nodded.

"Good," Misty said as she walked towards him seductively. "Then let's be friends." When she reached him she put a hand behind his head and drew him in for a mind blowing kiss that lasted for a long moment. Naturally his hands quickly drifted to the hem of her shirt and lifted it. She only allowed him to get it just to the mid point of her chest before she grabbed his hands and firmly pulled them away. "Not yet," she whispered. "This is my test, remember? I've always been good at tests." Then she let her own hand drift down his stomach until she was at the outside of his pants. "Not bad," she sighed. "But we can do better, don't you think? I want you totally on fire. You're never going to forget this day as long as you live."

Joe didn't answer. He just smiled.

"Why don't you take off your clothes?" Misty suggested. "Sit on the bed and I'll see if I can pass your test by putting on a little show for you, something to hopefully let you know what you can expect from our little agreement… maybe encourage you to want more and more and more. Maybe get our relationship started with a bang. You'd like that, right?"

Joe didn't answer this time either… but he did set a land speed record in getting rid of his clothes. Misty noted with some amusement that his eyes never left her chest. Fair enough. So she started to sway seductively to some imaginary music. She reached for the hem of her t-shirt and oh so slowly pulled it over her head. That left her standing in only her cut-off blue jeans. But when she bent over to place the shirt on the floor, she quickly reached down and grabbed the gun that was lying on the floor in the pile of clothes.

Joe was not impressed. "I thought that you might try something like that," he said with a confident grin. "Why do you think I left it in plain sight? I thought you said you were good with tests. I'm afraid you failed that one. Do you really think I'm stupid? Sweetheart, you can't shoot a gun without bullets. I thought we had an understanding. That move is going to cost you."

Indeed the clip was definitely missing. Misty looked to the floor in defeat. "I'm not your sweetheart," she said sadly. But then she held up the clip that she had lifted from his pocket in their make out session. "But I am a little confused. Aren't the bullets in here? What was your question again about being stupid?"

Joe's eyes now showed some concern. But he still believed himself to be in control. "Give me that before you hurt yourself," he said. "You don't know how to use that thing."

"You're probably right," Misty said sadly. Then she in a single motion expertly slammed the clip into the weapon and racked a round into the firing chamber. "Ooh," she said in faux excitement. "Beginner's luck. Let me see if I've got this right. I'm so stupid about these things sometimes. If I pulled this trigger, a bullet would come out really, really fast and land right into your chest. That would probably hurt. It actually sounds really painful."

"Will you be careful?" Joe asked nervously, watching Misty casually waiving the gun around confidently. Then he raised his hands. "That thing is dangerous. What are you going to do? There are ten men upstairs. You're just going to get killed."

"But this clip holds fifteen rounds," Misty protested with a sly grin. "That means I can shoot all of them and still have five left over to pump into your lifeless body. And you're right. I might get killed. But trust me, that beats the hell out of being your fuck toy."

Misty picked up his cuffs from the floor. "Put this on your wrist," she ordered. She then had him stand and looped the cuffs through a bar that was solidly attached to the wall. Then she put the cuff on his other wrist. Joe wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Goodbye Joe," Misty said with a grin as she retrieved her shirt from the floor and put it back on. "For what it's worth, I'm doing you a big favor here. If I had waited for my boyfriend to rescue me… well, we're talking autopsy I think. He's pretty big, incredibly protective, loves to shoot creeps such as yourself, and I really wasn't kidding about the jealous thing. And while we're at it, you're not really all that good of a kisser. Maybe that's something you could work once you get to prison. I've heard it's not all that hard to find a willing partner there. And thanks for picking a soundproof room. They won't hear you yelling at all. By the way, as long as we're sharing this moment, I just have to ask. How do you lug this huge gun around with you all day? I guess it's true what they say. Men use a big gun to compensate for… umm… other shortcomings."

When Misty was in the hallway, she allowed herself to slump against the wall for a second to gather her wits. _That first part went better than expected. Now to rescue Ellie._ Misty began to warily climb the stairs with her weapon at the ready. In spite of the incredibly tense situation, she discovered that she wasn't scared. In fact, she couldn't help the silly grin that she knew was on her face. _Maybe Casey is rubbing off on me. He would love this._ _Speaking of rubbing, this story is going to get him so hot that I'm going to need to take a fire extinguisher to bed to keep him from burning the house down._ _I can't wait to laugh at Ellie. She thinks that I only use my tits. But now even she will have to admit._

_They can come in mighty handy_.

x-x-x-x-x


	52. The Great Escape

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Great Escape**

x-x-x-x-x

_Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability_._.__– Ramsey in the Movie, The Great Escape (1963)_

x-x-x-x-x

Within fifteen minutes after leaving the President's office, the team was already in the air. The RAF jet that Cole has somehow acquired was very comfortable. It could have easily accommodated twenty passengers.

Naturally everyone was frantic about Ellie and Misty. But they made an unspoken agreement to keep that from their minds. After all, there wasn't a damn thing they could do until they got back home… and that was eight hours away. Sitting there worrying would only get them so panicked that they would make stupid mistakes. So Sarah told the team that they would get together for a planning session when they were about an hour from landing. Until then, it would be a good idea to rest as well as they could.

Sarah's idea of resting clearly involved snuggling… and maybe a bit more. She already had the blanket ready. But she could see the unmistakable glean in Chuck's eye. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked with a bemused grin.

"Don't start without me," Chuck said with a grin as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "I'll be right back."

Sarah didn't have to ask where he was going. She could see Carina sitting there by herself plain as day about ten rows up. And the doe-eyed look on her face shouted out that she was ripe for a little teasing. Sarah just hoped that Chuck knew what he was doing. After all, Carina could dish it out as well as anybody.

And indeed Carina saw him coming and got up from her seat to meet him. "Okay," she said. "Let me have it. I have it coming. Yes, I'm hopelessly in love with him. Go ahead and make fun of me. Just remember, I will get even sometime. And paybacks are a bitch."

Chuck really wasn't trying to make fun of Carina. Not really. Well, okay. So he maybe wouldn't mind rubbing it in a little how silly she had been. "Admit it," he said with a silly grin. "It's not so bad, is it? I'll bet you're married before the year is over. You'll be pregnant by this time next year. Tell me. Did he get down on one knee and propose?"

Carina bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "You're probably right," she said softly. "You've been right about everything so far. I'm sorry for being so damned emotional, Chuck. I guess that I'm just a little overwhelmed by how great it feels."

Instantly Chuck felt horribly guilty for teasing her. So he held out his arms in invitation, which Carina quickly accepted. "I'm sorry for teasing you," he said. "I glad that you're happy."

In one quick move Carina grabbed Chuck's hand and placed it on her left breast. Then she turned them so that Sarah would get a clear look at their profile and pressed her lips to his. Chuck's attention was so consumed trying to break away from the kiss that it really didn't register where his hand was. But Carina was surprisingly strong, and she had both hands with a firm grasp of the back of his head. So Chuck was pretty helpless.

"What the hell, Chuck?" Carina shouted as she finally broke the kiss and conspicuously removed his hand from her chest. "How many times do I have to tell you this? I'm engaged… and your wife is sitting right there."

Chuck was still trying to figure out what had just happened. "Remember this the next time you decide to tease me about being happy," she said so that only Chuck could hear her as she reclaimed her seat. "Remember that thing about paybacks?"

"Good luck explaining to her what you were doing just now."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie sat on her bed in the dimly lit cell, totally confused. She really had no clue what Misty was thinking. Was she seriously considering giving in to that guy? What good could that possibly do? But whatever she was thinking, it certainly wasn't smart. For one thing, going off alone with that creep who was making absolutely no effort to keep the lust from his eyes put her directly on the fast path to being raped. And Ellie was something of a nouveau-expert on the subject. The last of her own two black eyes had just healed.

Ellie's eyes narrowed as she pondered Misty's last words. What could she have possibly meant by asking her to distract the guard? Surely she didn't mean to flirt with him? Ellie had learned her lesson on that one. All that would do would be to put herself on the fast path to being raped. _Been there, done that_.

Unfortunately, try as she might, she couldn't think of much else that he would be interested in. She could try and make friendly conversation. But everything she could think of to start that conversation would just make her sound stupid, even by his standards. Ask where he went to college? Yeah, right. Ask about his family? His parents were probably first cousins. She could maybe ask him what books he was currently reading. But what good would that do? Based upon just his looks alone, this dude probably struggled to read the menu at a fast food place. Ask him for a funny anecdote about his last five state killing spree? So she put that stupid fake smile on her face and sauntered up to the edge of the cell. "Hi," she said. "My name's Ellie, what's yours?"

The guard just looked at her. "I know who you are, Dr. Bartowski," he said.

Wow. This wasn't going to be easy. "Come on," Ellie said with a stupid grin. "Why so formal? Call me Ellie."

"Okay, Ellie," the guard said. "What do you want?"

"I don't really want anything," Ellie said. "But come on. I'm scared. I'm lonely in this dark cell. You're just sitting here doing nothing. You must be bored too. Would it really kill you to talk to me for a minute?"

The guard seemed to consider that for a moment. "I guess not," he finally said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ellie took another step closer. "Why don't we start with your name?" she asked. "I told you mine. What can I call you?"

The guard seemed to consider that for another moment. "I'm Mike," he said.

"Hi Mike," Ellie said with her softest smile. "It's nice to meet you. Was that really so hard?"

"I guess not."

Okay so Mike wasn't an incredibly strong conversationalist. That was unsurprising. She did get him to tell her his name. That was some progress. Unfortunately, Ellie was already out of conversation topics. So it was time to bring out the big guns. "Mike," she asked softly. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"That depends."

Ellie forced herself to laugh. "Fair enough," she said. "It's just that I have this itch. It's right in the middle of my back and I can't reach it. It's driving me crazy. Would you be a sweetheart and scratch it for me?" Ellie placed her back against the bars and lifted the back of her t-shirt a little in a clear sign… and waited.

Sure enough, it wasn't very long at all before she felt his hand start to snake up her back. "Thank you," she sighed. "It's right under my strap. Maybe if you unfastened it."

At least Mike had one skill because it took about a half second before Ellie felt her bra loosen. "That's it," she moaned. "Right there. That feels so good. You have nice hands." Of course that was a bullshit lie. She could already feel the welts rising from where his fingernails where roughly scratching her back.

Ellie wordlessly allowed him to scratch her back for a long moment. Finally she couldn't take any more so she pulled away a little and turned to face him. "Thank you, sweetie," she said with the sexiest smile she could come up with. "That was fantastic. Maybe someday I can repay the favor and scratch an itch for you." Okay, so that was stupid and she knew it. She had just lit the fuse. It was now only a matter of time before he would be in that cell with an 'itch' for her to scratch. But at least he was now most definitely distracted.

And indeed, Mike's fuse must have been incredibly short because he almost immediately grinned. "Really?" he asked. "I might just take you up on that. I think that I know…"

Mike's crude come-on was interrupted mid-sentence by the unmistakable sound of a round being cocked into the firing chamber of a handgun. "Don't you even think about moving," Misty growled as shoved the barrel of the gun not so gently into the back of Mike's head. As soon as she had relieved him of his gun, she made him put his arms through two separate gaps in the bars. Then she handed Ellie his handcuffs and had her put them on him. He was effectively fastened to the cell. Misty fished the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the cell. "I'm so worried about you," she said as she turned to Ellie with a mischievous grin.

Ellie did a double take. "You're worried about me?" she asked. "Why?"

"All of those amazing assets that you have," Misty said in faux seriousness. "And all you seem to be using are your tits."

In spite of the incredibly tense situation, Ellie was forced to laugh out loud. "Very funny," she eventually said sarcastically. "You're a regular freaking comedian. Maybe you should go back to Vegas and start a stand-up act."

Misty seemed to consider that for a second. "Maybe," she said with her own laugh. "Maybe Casey can be my straight man."

"Well," Ellie said thoughtfully. "He's pretty straight. I'll give you that." Ellie couldn't resist the temptation to take a shot at Mike, who was standing there with his mouth hanging open. "Would you settle something for me?" she asked him in faux-seriousness. "This is just a hunch. But your parents… first cousins, right?"

When they had stopped laughing Misty handed Ellie the gun she had taken from Mike. Ellie just looked at it in horror. "Sweetie," she exclaimed. "I can't shoot a gun."

"I know," Misty said, still sporting her grin. "I was standing right there the last time that you tried, remember? I don't want you to shoot it… at all. In fact keep your finger away from the trigger. The safety is on anyway. I just want you to carry it so you can quickly hand it to me if I run out of ammo. Then she fished Mike's wallet out of his pants and stuck it in her own pocket. Then she stuck her gun under his chin. "Where is your car?" she growled.

"Across the street in the parking lot."

Misty turned to Ellie. "Let's get out of here,' she said. "Stay attached to my hip like you're a cold sore."

"Misty," Ellie exclaimed. "What are you going to do?"

"Take a wild guess," Misty said sarcastically. "I'm going to be able to tell Casey a story that will keep him in bed for a solid week worshiping me. You think that he's straight now? What until I get done with him."

"It's time that one of us used an asset other than our tits."

x-x-x-x-x

Ted Roark sat in his office. It really wasn't all that unusual for him to be here this late in the evening. He had planned ahead. His office was as comfortable as you would expect for someone of his wealth. It even included a separate bedroom for those all-nighters. After all, you didn't get to be one of the richest men in the world unless you were something of a workaholic. And tonight didn't seem like work anyway.

Ted knew that he had no way to contact Orion. After all, he and his team of some of the brightest people in the world that money could buy had spent almost all of the past twenty years trying their level best. But Orion was always two steps ahead of them. His mastery of technology was almost magical.

Fortunately, he knew that he wouldn't have to. Now that he had Orion's daughter, Ted was fairly confident that Orion would be the one doing the contacting. And indeed, it wasn't all that long before a window popped up on his computer screen. "Hello, Mary," Ted said. "It's been a long time since I've seen your lovely face. But I was sort of expecting you husband. Might I have a word with him?"

"You son of a bitch," Mary growled. "She has nothing to do with any of this. If you touch one single hair on her head, I'll…"

"I know," Ted interrupted dismissively. "You'll be very upset. Let me see if I remember the routine. You'll draw and quarter me, boil me in oil, and make a lamp out of my hip bone. I'm so intimidated that I can barely talk. Can't you hear the tension in my voice? Now do I get to talk to your husband or not?"

"Not until we get to talk to our daughter," Mary snapped. "Once we know that she's alive and well, then you'll get to talk to him. Not a second before."

"Okay fine," Ted said with a growing smirk. "I'm not an animal. Well maybe I am an animal. But I need her for right now. If I was you, I'd work really hard to keep that being true."

"I'll be back in touch in an hour," Mary said. "I'll expect to talk directly to her so that she can answer my questions. After that, you'll get your talk."

Ted grinned at the monitor. "Mary," he said. "Why are you always so tense? I'm so worried about you. Is everything okay? Is Steven taking care of you? Maybe you need a good time. I'll tell you what. Once we meet in person again, I'll do that thing that you always liked so much. It'll be like old times. You said that you had never felt like that before, remember? And you were always so good at returning the favor. I miss that a lot. You really did have an amazing talent. It's something that I always meant to ask you. Were you always that talented? Or was it more a result of hours and hours of practice? Is it possible that you have gotten even better over the years? Or has Steven allowed your skills to atrophy? That would be a crime. Maybe we'll have a chance to do some comparisons later."

Mary ignored the clear attempt to taunt her. "One hour," she growled and the screen went blank.

Ted Roark made no effort to keep the confident grin from his face. Why should he? After all, he finally had Orion and Frost exactly where he wanted them. And he truthfully hadn't even considered the fun he could have taunting his old roommate by using his wife. Honestly, Mary was getting a little long in the tooth for his tastes. As one of the richest men in the entire world, he now preferred his playthings to be a bit on the younger side. But what the hell? After all, they were engaged once.

Yes, Ted thought that it was all over but the shouting. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize the flaw in his plan. And the funny part is that his ultimate defeat would come from the last place in the world that he would be expecting. He didn't even know her name. In fact he didn't care, didn't bother to ask. He had casually ordered her killed as an afterthought. But Ted would soon come to know the name of Misty Collins.

She would be his doom.

x-x-x-x-x

Misty led Ellie cautiously down the hall. They could clearly hear voices through the open doorway, but how many men, there was no way of knowing. Joe earlier had said ten. But believing that depended upon two things. She would have to trust him, and she didn't. She would also have to think that he could count… and she didn't. Hopefully they would be surprised. After all, they would have no reason to expect an attack. But at the end of the day it really didn't matter all that much. The only door that she knew about that went outside was on the other side of that room. And that meant…

Misty clicked off the safety and jumped through the doorway. Once she was in the room she took aim at the unlucky first man she saw. A bark from her gun and he fell to the floor dead. Two other men quickly followed their unlucky colleague. The others had no choice but to dive for whatever cover they could find.

Misty took advantage of that moment of confusion to lead Ellie across the room and out the open door. They quickly ran across the street to the parking lot. It looked like they were in a warehouse district of some kind. There were about five cars parked in the lot. She handed Ellie the keys she had taken from Mike. "Find his car," she shouted. "Start it up and wait for me. Honk the horn when you're ready to drive."

Misty knew that as soon as the remaining six or so men recovered from the shock that they would quickly be in hot pursuit. She also knew, in order for them to escape, that she had to slow down that pursuit. Across the street would be a long shot for a handgun, so she crouched behind the closest car and used it to steady her hand holding the gun. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down and wait for them. Indeed quickly men were pouring out of the open door. Misty took careful aim and squeezed the trigger three times. The first three pursuers fell in heaps.

That kept whatever men remained diving back inside the building. They were firing wildly through the open door, but their shots weren't coming close. Finally Misty heard Ellie's honk. So she quickly found Ellie impatiently sitting in a silver Mercedes, shot a tire out of the remaining four cars, and threw herself into the passenger's seat.

"Where to?" Ellie asked facetiously as she spun the tires aggressively and pulled onto the road.

"Surprise me," Misty responded sarcastically as she peeled her eyes on the door looking for any signs of pursuit. "For right now, I'd say anyplace but here." Misty kept her eyes trained on the road behind them looking for any possible sign of pursuit. But it was clear.

They had officially escaped.

After about a half mile, Ellie quickly found what looked to be a main road and turned onto it. She skillfully maneuvered the car through slower traffic.

Misty did a double take at Ellie's driving. "Wow," she said. "This is most impressive. You look really natural driving this car."

"Why wouldn't I?" Ellie asked. "I have this exact car. Misty, I'm not blowing my own horn here, but you'll never realize how hard I worked. Fours years of Undergraduate School, two years of Medical School, two years of Residency, and I had to scrape dimes together for two whole years to afford my car. It was the one luxury that I allowed myself. And this bastard who can't put together a complete sentence has the same exact car… and he has the better trim package. Now I'm officially pissed. Life simply isn't fair."

Misty grinned and grabbed her friend's arm. "Life isn't fair," she agreed. "But just look at it this way. Now you have a Mercedes with the better trim package." Then she held up his wallet. "Besides, I took this."

Indeed, that seemed to cheer Ellie up a bit. "How much?" she asked.

When Misty opened the wallet she was stunned by the number of hundred dollar bills inside. "Holly crap," she said with a grin. "There must be over two thousand dollars here. I wonder how he got so much cash."

"I think that we can safely rule out tax refund," Ellie said with her own grin. "Too fucking stupid to file a return." Then she turned to Misty with a much more serious look. "I want to thank you," she said. "Sweetie, you were such a badass back there. I'm so proud of you that I could cry. Trust me. I've seen Sarah, Casey, and Cole in action several times up close and personal. You were every bit as impressive today as anything I've seen from the professionals. I can't wait to brag you up to Casey. I'm going to make damn sure that he worships you for a lot longer than a week. But what do we do now?"

Misty paused to consider the question. "Well," she said. "We'd better figure out a way to let your mom and dad know that we've escaped. Otherwise, they might surrender."

"How are we going to do that?" Ellie asked.

That got a smile. "Do I really have to be the one with all the answers?" Misty asked. "You're the doctor who now owns two Mercedes. I drive a beat up Chevy. I guess we'd better figure out where we are."

"Of course," Ellie said with a grin. "I'm a doctor. I must be pretty smart, huh? It's all coming back to me now. Maybe we should just drive back to the farmhouse and tell them personally." Then she pushed a button on the console. The navigation system sprung to life. "St. Louis," she said. "I've always wanted to see the arch. Have you ever seen it?"

"The gateway to the West?" Misty asked with her own grin. "Lot's of times. I'm not all that far away from home. We used to have swim meets here a lot. You're in luck. The freeway goes over the Mississippi river right next to the arch. It's going to be about a ten hour drive from here. Fulcrum clearly knows where the house is. They'll be waiting for us. They are almost unquestionably watching."

"But so is Dad," Ellie sighed. "I'll put my money on him. Once the team finds out that we've been captured, my money says they'll head right back there."

Misty pondered that for a moment. It was hard to argue with any of her reasoning. "Okay," she said as she punched some numbers into the navigation system. "You're probably right. We'll drive in shifts."

"I'm probably right?" Ellie asked in mock frustration. "Hello… what happened to smart doctor who owns two Mercedes? Besides, we have the world's biggest badass. I almost feel sorry for them."

"Well I don't," Misty said with a playful punch to her friend's shoulder. "But first we have to find a fast food restaurant."

"The world's biggest badass is starving."

x-x-x-x-x


	53. The Great Race

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Great Race**

x-x-x-x-x

_A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries. – Will Rogers_

x-x-x-x-x

The girls had wordlessly decided that they already had enough tension for one day. After all, they had escaped near certain death. Sure, really bad guys were probably chasing them. But hey, they hadn't caught them yet. So why not have some fun with it? So it was in that vein that Ellie couldn't keep the grin from her face as she watched Misty sitting in the passenger's seat wolfing down her loaded cheeseburger. Actually it was a double cheeseburger. And Misty was devouring it like she hadn't seen food in a month.

"Speaking strictly as your doctor," Ellie said facetiously as they drove along the darkened freeway. "That's really not a very healthy choice. These fast food chains have been under a lot of criticism lately. They have even started selling salads."

Misty didn't stop eating to respond to her friend's teasing. She just faced her and made a big deal out of taking the very next bite. "Hmmm," was all she said… if that was actually talking, that is.

Ellie was not detoured in her teasing in the least. "And eating a big meal this late at night," she continued merrily. "Well, I hope that you know what that does to your metabolism. It's not pretty."

"Shouldn't you be watching the road?" Misty said with her own grin as she finally finished her burger. "You being all safety conscious and all. You do realize that we're on a life or death mission. A little hydrogenated fat is probably not high on the list of things that are about to kill me."

"Now see," Ellie said in mock seriousness. "That's a very healthy attitude. Much higher on the list is if you spill any of that ketchup on my brand new leather seats."

They say that once you cheat death, you see life differently. And that was definitely true of Ellie and Misty. They would never be the same again. But you would never know it looking at them laughing in that car. It just looked like two close friends…or maybe even sisters sharing a girl's night out. "I have to admit," Misty said as soon as she could stop laughing enough to get the words out.

"They are nice seats."

x-x-x-x-x

Steven walked up just as Mary was finishing her call with Roark. She turned away from the monitor to face her husband in disgust. "That son of a bitch," she growled. "Hours and hours of practice… he actually had the nerve to call me a slut."

Steven rubbed his wife's arm affectionately. "In all fairness," he said with something of a growing grin. "He only said that you have an amazing talent. I agree. And you have to admit, you do have a fair bit of practice time invested."

Mary was not all that amused. "Okay," she said. "I'll admit that you have me completely stumped. Why are you in such a good mood? You do realize that Eleanor is in their hands, we don't have a clue where, and Ted will do horrible things to her to get us to surrender?"

"St. Louis," Steven said as his grin grew even more. "They took her to St. Louis. But she's not there any more. Even Ted doesn't know yet. She's escaped."

"Escaped? No way," Mary said. "How could those two untrained girls possibly have escaped from that group of professionals?"

"I'm not totally sure about the details," Steven said confidently. "We'll have to ask them. But they have definitely escaped. I just listened to a cell call. The guards didn't know what hit them. Two of them ended up cuffed. They killed six, stole a car, and were gone before they could blink."

"Where are they now?" Mary asked.

"That's the main problem," Steven said. "The car they stole has a tracker installed. That means that I can track them… but so can Fulcrum. They are clearly headed back here. They have a couple of hour's head start but Fulcrum is already chasing them."

Mary jumped up. "I'd better get on the road," she said. "I need to get to them before Fulcrum."

But Steven grabbed her arm. "Relax," he said soothingly. "I just talked to Sarah. They are diverting the plane to Pittsburgh and dropping off Major Casey. He will get there a lot faster than you could. He is going to get a car and intercept them. That should allow him to get to them, hopefully before Fulcrum can catch them. The rest of the team will come here."

Mary stared at Steven. She was trying hard to keep a straight face. Truthfully his grin was pretty infectious. It always had been. "How could Ellie possibly have…" she started to wonder out loud.

"It wasn't Ellie," Steven interrupted. "It was Misty. She stole a gun and capped six of them. Clearly she has been hanging around Major Casey a bit too much. Apparently they do more things together than just the obvious. She must be a fast learner."

"She must be a freaking natural," Mary agreed.

"Ted was right about something else," Steven said as he sat down and pulled her towards him. "You're much too tense. You have to admit, he was right about the perfect way to calm you down."

So now Mary's battle with the straight face thing was hopelessly lost. So she gave up and openly shared his grin as she allowed him to pull her into his lap. She gently touched her lips to his. Then she pulled back and looked at his smirk. After so many years together she could basically read his mind. But that bit of almost supernatural awareness wasn't all that necessary in this case. The hand that was gently massaging her left breast through her shirt was probably a dead giveaway as to what he had in mind. "Really?" she asked. "Now? You know that I'll never deny you anything. But you really want to do this now?"

Steven at least pretended to consider the question. "Well," he said thoughtfully. "I am in a much better mood. We do have an hour with nothing to do. Who knows when we're going to have the house all to ourselves next? It has been a while since you…. relaxed. And Ted did have something of a point. It would be a crime to allow such a wonderful skill to atrophy."

"For one thing I relaxed just yesterday," Mary said sarcastically with a short laugh. "Twice. Don't you remember? You seemed pretty relaxed yourself. And don't get me started about the day before. I think that was some kind of record. And for another thing, that's not really the kind of skill that can atrophy. It's sort of like riding a bike. Once you learn how, you never really forget." But her gruff protests seemed to belie the fact that she was clearly more eager to 'relax' than even he was. She had already unfastened his belt and his pants were currently in a ball around his ankles. As she carefully sat back down on his lap, she paused for a moment. "Are you sure that Ted doesn't know yet?"

"I'm sure," Steven said with a devilish grin as he began to unbutton her blouse. "They're actually afraid to tell him. They were talking about it on the phone. You're going to be able to have a good time playing him. He'll be totally bluffing."

"Speaking of good times," Mary sighed with something of her own smirk as she shifted her body to give him better access to the rest of her buttons. "I guess Ted had a point. You can never have too much practice."

"But I'm still going to kill that bastard."

x-x-x-x-x

Okay, so Sarah was now in a much better mood. Actually, the news that Misty and Ellie had somehow escaped had everybody, at least relieved, and at most, giddy.

She told the team earlier that they would get together for a planning session when they were an hour from landing. And that was still about an hour out. Fortunately for her, Sarah was the only one on the team who was in a position to take full advantage. Chuck was sitting right next to her. Everyone else's significant other was someplace else.

Chuck smiled as could see the wheels in his wife's head spinning. He knew full well that Casey and Cole were of no concern to her plan. For one thing, they would rather poke their own eye out with a stick than see anything approaching them necking anyway. They were both in the very back of the plane resting. But Carina was clearly another matter. Chuck watched in amusement as Sarah stomped up to where she was sitting. And while he couldn't hear anything they were saying, it was clear that it was a very one sided conversation. Sarah was doing all of the talking… and Carina, well was turning very red. It was a pretty good bet that Sarah made whatever point she was going for quite clearly. Because you didn't have to be much of a lip reader to see Carina say "yes, ma'am," very meekly.

Once Sarah was back in her seat with the huge blanket that she had fashioned as sort of a makeshift tent over their heads, Chuck decided to have a bit of fun. "So,' he sighed sadly. "I guess now that we have some semi-privacy, you're going to give me the standard pre-mission lecture. Take things seriously, stay behind you at all times, don't get shot or otherwise seriously injured, things like that."

Sarah was not all that amused. "You betcha, smart ass," she said.

Chuck looked at his wife warily. He was pretty sure that she was teasing. He just wasn't totally sure. And with Sarah you wanted to be totally sure. "Umm, Sarah," he said gently. "I'm just teasing you."

That got a strained smile in return. "I know, so was I," was all she said.

So now Chuck was concerned. So he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "Tell me what's wrong," he said softly.

Sarah snuggled into him and they stayed that way wordlessly for a long moment. "I'm tired, sweetie," she finally said with a sigh. "I just don't have anything left. I mean I've been doing this for almost ten years. When you become a CIA agent, you go into it knowing that it demands everything that you have. I don't really regret that decision. It was right for me at the time. I've done some good things, stopped some really evil people. But now I'm a different person. You've changed me. I think maybe I'm ready to stop cheating death every other day and settle down into something… calmer."

Chuck kissed the top of her head affectionately. "I'm not sure how to tell you this," he said. "It may not include cheating death every other day. But I'm not sure that being a mother is going to be any calmer. Two-year-olds may not be quite so evil… but you also can't shoot them."

Chuck could feel her silently laughing. It felt wonderful. "So," he said with a chuckle of his own. "Do you think that you have enough bad-ass left for one more day? This one last mission and then we'll take a nice long rest."

Sarah didn't answer his question, not really. "I didn't realize there was an option," she said as she looked up at him with a grin. "Besides, who said anything about resting?" she asked with her eyes sparkling as she pressed her lips to his.

"Why do you think I went to all the trouble of building this tent?"

x-x-x-x-x

It was Misty's turn to drive. In fact, she had been driving for quite some time. In the early morning the turnpike was almost deserted. There was a big temptation to speed. After all, they were on a flat, straight road with three lanes and almost no traffic. But they decided that they couldn't risk getting pulled over in a car that was probably registered to a terrorist. So they kept within the speed limit. Ellie was taking a nap. Well, she thought that she was anyway. But when she glanced over, she could tell that her friend was wordlessly staring at her. "What?" she asked with a smile.

But Ellie was clearly being a little more serious because she didn't smile. "I feel like such a jerk," she finally said. "I'm so sorry."

Misty's eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what Ellie was talking about. "I know that you were just joking about the ketchup on the leather seats," she said with something of a smile.

"I can't believe how wrong I was," Ellie said sadly. "I really hated you. And now here you are saving my life. I'm so ashamed of myself."

But Misty just grinned and reached over to grab Ellie's hand. "You shouldn't feel badly about that," she said. "I wasn't exactly about to nominate you for fiancé of the year either. I guess that's just a result of the situation we found ourselves in. The important thing is that we're good friends now, right?"

That got a smile and a squeeze of her hand. "We're good friends now," Ellie agreed.

"Look at the bright side," Misty said cheerfully. "I know that being a doctor is probably not all that boring… but tell me the truth. Have you ever had an adventure like this before? We have a regular Thelma and Louise thing going. Let's enjoy it."

That seemed to placate Ellie's concerns and improve her mood considerably. So they drove down the road in contented silence for a long while. Finally Misty heard the smile in Ellie's soft voice.

"Wait a minute. Didn't they get killed?"

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was driving frantically down the road on his own. He knew that he had to get to the girls before Fulcrum did. And it was going to be close. Orion wasn't exactly sure how close the pursuit was. There was really no way to track them other than the cell calls they were periodically making to report status. But the girl's decision to go an hour out of their way had cost them almost all of their head start. The bad guys were clearly closing in. At least they were smart enough to get off the stupid turnpike.

Sarah's plan on the plane was simple… vague but simple. After dropping Casey off in Pittsburgh, the team would hightail it back to base and defend Orion and Frost against the expected Fulcrum attack. They would most likely have to stay pretty much defensive until help arrived because they would be facing overwhelming numbers. Ted Roark would almost assuredly pull out all the stops to capture them, especially after learning of Ellie's escape and losing his leverage to get them to surrender. The President had promised to send help as quickly as he could… but he currently had his own hands more than full. And nothing could tip off the Ring that they were on to them. So it would be several hours, at least, before they could expect the Cavalry, most literally, to arrive. Hopefully Orion had some helpful technology ready. The one advantage they had was that Fulcrum would want to capture Chuck and Orion alive.

In theory anyway, Casey's assignment was easy. All he had to do was find the girls, get them out of that tracked car, and take them someplace safe to hide out for the duration. Naturally, Sarah couldn't resist taking a shot by authorizing Casey to order Ellie to turn her back while he… umm… thoroughly debriefed Misty. That definitely broke the tension and turned the meeting silly for a bit. It was actually Carina who chimed in that Misty almost assuredly wasn't wearing briefs. But after all, Chuck retorted as he defended his wife with a clear smirk, de-panty didn't quite have the same ring to it.

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Casey couldn't help the grin that came involuntarily to his face. For one thing, they had been living in a tense situation for the past two years. Why should tonight bother him? After all, this was his perfect assignment. There was the very real possibility of gun play. Not only that, it would be in the defense of the two women that he loved. _Wait, did I really just think that out loud? Love? I must be hanging around Chuck too much. Okay, Ellie is a good friend. But Misty? I'm a spy. I can't be in love._

_Love? She deserves better than this._

But Casey had to admit. When he thought of Misty he felt something that he had never felt before. Maybe Ellie could help him think this through. It couldn't be love. It couldn't be. Ellie would know. But he also had to admit that Chuck had a point.

De-panty didn't have nearly the same ring to it.

x-x-x-x-x

By instinct more than anything, Misty decided that they couldn't risk staying on the turnpike any longer. Fortunately, the Navigation system perfectly guided them through the series of dark, mostly deserted, country back roads. And although they still had about a quarter tank of gas left, when Misty saw the open gas station she decided it would be a good place to stop. After all, gas stations were not all that common on these roads. And it wouldn't do to run out of gas. Besides, it would be a good chance to stretch their legs and maybe find a ladies room.

There was a middle-aged man working behind the counter. When she asked for the key to the bathroom, Misty wasn't sure if the smile he was flashing at her was an attempt to flirt or not. She had definitely had more than her fill of being hit on lately. Finally she remembered that not all men were pigs. She had just been hanging around creeps for to long. This poor guy wasn't flirting with her, at least not in that way. He was just trying to be nice. He was probably bored and lonely and wanted to make a little friendly conversation. It was hard to fault him for that. She felt so guilty that she forced a smile on her face, leaned up against the counter, and talked to him for a bit while Ellie was taking her turn in the rest room. It was actually nice. Some pleasant, non-life threatening talk that didn't involve someone trying to rule the world. Unfortunately Misty was enjoying it a bit too much. Because she didn't notice the two cars that pulled up until the men were already out and walking towards the building.

"Shit!" Misty screamed as she pulled the gun out of the back of her pants. That's the one spy thing that she had learned from Sarah… where to carry your gun. "Ellie, we've got company!"

As soon as the clerk saw Misty's gun, he clearly jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Are you going to rob me?" he asked shakily. "Please don't shoot. You can have the money."

Misty didn't have time to be comforting. "Get down," she shouted. "These are bad guys."

The six Fulcrum Agents weren't being at all subtle. They probably had received enough of an earful from Roark that being killed now didn't sound any worse than returning empty handed. So they all had guns drawn as they approached.

Misty knew that she would never be able to hit anyone through the thick glass windows. So she quickly crouched behind the counter and fired twice, shattering the windows into a million pieces. Then she took aim at the lead man and fired. One good thing, the adrenalin didn't seem to affect Misty's shooting. The first four men fell in heaps. That only left two. She recognized Joe and Mike from the cell. So she took aim at Joe and squeezed the trigger. Unfortunately, all the gun did was click. She was out of ammo.

Joe's mood clearly turned around when he heard the clicks. This was now all over but the shouting. So he stepped through the frame where the window used to be with a confident grin and pointed his gun directly at Misty's chest. "Drop your weapon and put your hands on top of your head," he calmly ordered.

The clerk foolishly came out from where he was hiding and tried to protect her. That incredibly gallant act probably didn't cost him his life. These Fulcrum bastards weren't likely to leave any witnesses anyway. In fact Joe almost looked bored as he fired a single shot into Misty's new friend's chest and made that moot.

Ellie foolishly picked that moment to allow her curiosity to overcome her fear and come out of the bathroom. Not that it mattered all that much, but it would have been better if she had remained hidden for as long as possible. "Well," Mike snarled with something of his own smirk as he motioned her into the room with the gun in his hand. "Look what we have here. Are you ready to scratch that itch?"

Joe didn't wait for any response. He just raised his weapon and fired. The blow impacted Misty high on her shoulder, knocking her to the floor. Ellie's wordless cry of anguish was plain as she went to help Misty.

Joe turned to face Ellie with his gun pointed directly at her. "Stay right where you fucking are," he growled. Then he turned to face Misty again who was lying on the floor grasping for breath. "That was for leaving me cuffed naked," he growled. "You know, this is a real shame," he said facetiously, clearly mocking her. "You are truly the sexiest woman I've even seen. I was so looking forward to being your friend. We could have had a real good time together. But you decided to humiliate me. I should have followed my orders the first time. It's a shame that I don't have enough time to make you really suffer. But say goodbye to your friend."

Misty watched in alarm as Joe slowly and deliberately pointed his gun at her. Her shoulder didn't really hurt, it just felt numb. She desperately racked her brain trying to come up with a way out of this. But she quickly came to the only possible conclusion. As she waited for the inevitable it was almost as if she was watching this happen to somebody else. Through her fog, she could vaguely hear Ellie pleading for Joe not to shoot. She could also see the barrel of that huge gun pointed directly at her chest. But the funny thing was she wasn't afraid. Not really. All she could think about was one thing… and that made her sad. But there was really nothing she could do. So she just closed her eyes and patiently waited for the death that was sure to come.

When Misty heard the shot ring out, all she could feel was surprise. For one thing, there were two shots. For another, it didn't hurt. She could hear Ellie asking her if she was okay. And for a horrible moment she thought that they had killed Ellie as well and they were both in heaven. But quickly she could feel Ellie gently slapping her face.

When Misty opened her eyes, Ellie was already ripping her shirt open to check on her wound. But that's not what grabbed her attention. Casey was kneeling checking on the bodies.

When Casey was satisfied that all the bad guys were actually dead, he quickly went to Misty and grabbed her free hand. "Hey," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"

Misty just looked at him like he had sprouted a second head. "How am I feeling?" she asked incredulously. "I'm shot. How should I be feeling? What took you so long anyway?"

"I'm sorry," Casey said. "I got here as soon as I could."

Misty's heart broke as she watched the crestfallen look on Casey's face. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you," she said. "Look, as long as you're here, I have to tell you something. When I was waiting for him to finish me off, all I could think about was never seeing you again and how sad that made me. If I'm going to die here tonight I don't want to go without telling you how much I love you."

Casey took his hand and carefully brushed the hair away from her eyes. "It may not be the most romantic setting," he said. "But I love you too. Please hang in there. I'm going to do everything I can to get you some help."

All Ellie did was smile at them. "Aww," she said. "That was a nice moment. And it's true that Misty is going to die. I mean everybody dies someday. But it's not going to be today. At least not from this. It would take a hell of a lot more than this to kill the world's biggest badass." Then she turned to Casey. "We need to control her bleeding. Find me some sanitary napkins."

"Sanitary napkins?" Casey asked in confusion. "Umm, where would I find them?"

"In the feminine hygiene department," Ellie snapped. "They're perfect. They're sanitary. And, well, they're napkins. Hello. You need to hurry."

Casey's face turned about ten shades of red as he finally realized what Ellie wanted, but he quickly found a box and an Ace bandage. Ellie worked efficiently to press a napkin into Misty's entry and exit wounds. Then she used the Ace bandage to keep them firmly in place.

"Can we move her?" Casey asked in obvious concern as he looked around anxiously. "We're going to have some company in just a few minutes."

"Yes," Ellie said. "We need to get her to a hospital as soon as we can. But it's not critical." Then she turned to Misty. "You're going to need some minor surgery to repair the damage to your shoulder," she said. "And it feels like it may be slightly separated. But I won't know for sure until I can see the x-rays. You're going to be on your back for a week or so. If your shoulder is separated, you'll be wearing a sling for six weeks. But don't worry. I promise you're going to have a full recovery."

One would think that Misty would have been relieved. And maybe she was. But she grabbed her friend's arm not all that gently. "Then why in the hell didn't you stop me?" she demanded in exasperation. "You stood there and let me tell him that I loved him for the first time lying on the floor of a convenience store?"

Ellie laughed out loud. "It was sweet," she said. "Maybe you'll have a little tiny scar to remember our adventure by. But I'm sure that he'll just find that sexy."

Casey very tenderly scooped Misty up to carry her to the car. As soon as she was in his arms she wrapped her good arm around his neck for all she was worth. "I'm very sorry that I dumped all that heavy stuff on you like that," she said so that only Casey could hear her. "I understand that makes you uncomfortable. It was an emotional moment. We thought that I was dying. That makes people say things sometimes that they don't really mean. The last thing that I would want is to put any pressure on you. So I'm not going to hold you to anything you said." Then she paused for a long moment. "But for the record," she finally continued. "Just so that we understand each other… I meant what I said."

Casey smiled and kissed her on the forehead lovingly. "I think that we understand each other perfectly," he said. "The honest truth is that I'm totally comfortable. It seems to fit somehow that the first time we said those words to each other would be after a gunfight. That's us, right?"

"And for the record… so did I."

x-x-x-x-x


	54. Sarah Finally Sleeps With Shaw

_Okay, we're getting close to the end. So I feel that I need at least one chapter with a title that is in honor of the episode titles and descriptions of the show. Accurate perhaps, but totally misleading._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Sarah Finally Sleeps With Shaw**

x-x-x-x-x

_Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care. The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath. Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course. Chief nourisher in life's feast. - William Shakespeare, Macbeth_

x-x-x-x-x

Ted Roark sat in his finely appointed office and fumed. Well, drank the unbelievably expensive imported Irish whiskey that he normally saved for special occasions… and fumed. And the more that he drank, the angrier he got. His gaggle of high priced morons had failed him yet again. How could two unarmed girls wearing t-shirts and tennis shoes, with no assets other than their chest, possibly escape from a group of ten fully trained, heavily armed agents? It simply wasn't done.

Roark wasn't even sure which was worse, losing his hard earned leverage of having Orion's daughter to play with, or having to listen to Mary gloat about it. Well, that wasn't really true. Mary's gloating was about as bad as it got for him. Now this was personal. Well, okay… it always had been personal. But she had just raised the stakes by a considerable margin. If Mary was going to go all in, it was time to call.

The main problem was that time was quickly running out. Surely the Bartowski group had gotten to the President inLondon. Roark's men on the ground there had just called a few hours ago and reported that all was going well. And if the President knew about The Ring's plans, there would be no way for them to win, not against the force that The President controlled. And once The Ring was lured out into the open and defeated, the only way for Fulcrum to openly survive for very long would be to use the intersect. Without it, they were sitting ducks once The President turned his attention to them. Sadly, that logic certainly seemed irrefutable.

The death of Fulcrum would be a hard blow to take. Oh, Roark really wasn't worried about himself personally. Even if they suspected him, there was no way to pin any of Fulcrum's activities on him. He had been very careful over the years to make sure nothing could be tied back to him. After all, he was a fabulously rich man. He had a roomful of the best lawyers that money could buy. But Fulcrum was his baby. He had twenty years invested into it. It was a fun diversion. It would be a shame to lose it now that they were so close. All they needed was an intersect. And to get it, it was time to turn to someone more… motivated.

Roark's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. Without waiting the man opened the door and entered the room. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

Roark looked at his watch. "You're late," he said.

"Look," Shaw said impatiently. "This is not the best time for me. I'm pretty busy today."

"Sit down," Roark said firmly. "You're in a hurry? Well guess what, moron. So am I. So let's put some cards on the table. I understand that you've been playing me and White against each other. Normally that would earn you a bullet between your eyes. But this is your lucky day. I'm about to not only save your life. I'm going to give you what you want. I'm assuming that you still want Sarah Walker."

That certainly got Shaw's attention. So he sat down and with widened eyes listened to Roark's tale of the trap that was about to destroy The Ring.

"So," Shaw said sadly once the realization had fully sunk in. After all, he was nothing if not a pragmatist. "After tonight The Ring is going to cease to exist. What do you want from me?"

"That's easy," Roark said. "I want you to deliver me an intersect."

Shaw was careful not to sound totally sarcastic. This Roark was now holding a lot of cards. Pissing him off was probably not smart. But he was asking for the impossible. "No kidding?" he asked haltingly. "And just how am I supposed to do that? We've been trying to do that for a month now. You just told me that Bartowski is inLondon."

Roark shook his head sadly. "Your vision is ridiculously small," he said. "The son would be very valuable. There is no question about that. But the father is the real prize. Orion invented the intersect. With him, we can have as many intersects as we want. Besides, once we have him, the son and his handlers will quickly surrender to save him, especially if they don't know that you're involved. I'll provide you with a comfortable hiding place and all the necessary resources to do whatever sick things you have planned. I'm thinking that she might be a bigger challenge than you're assuming. But hey, that's your problem. Bring me Orion and you'll have years to slowly break her."

The light bulb in Shaw's head finally turned on. "So that's why they were always one step ahead of us," he sighed. "Orion was helping them."

"Hello?" Roark said sarcastically. "You're just now coming to that conclusion. Are you in or not?"

Shaw was more than interested. "Okay," he said. "So how do I find this Orion?"

Roark buried his face in his hands in frustration. "You haven't been listening to a fucking word that I've been saying have you?" he demanded. "We know exactly where Orion is. I need you to lead an assault on the house and capture him. I have a hundred man force already in position to go with you. But I need somebody to lead them who is properly motivated to succeed. Orion and Frost are all alone in that house. The rest of his team is confirmed to still be in London. I'm warning you. Don't underestimate him."

Now Shaw was smiling. "Don't worry," he said as he stood up to leave. "I'm more than properly motivated. I'll bring you your prize. As long as I get Walker."

"One more thing," Roark said. "Daniel, I've let you slide once. It won't happen again. Do your job and you'll get your reward. It actually doesn't cost me that much, as long as I don't have to witness it. She's a proud woman. It seems like what you have planned is on the inhumane side. I'm a bit squeamish when it comes to such things. But let's get something crystal clear. There can no longer be any question as to where your loyalty is. Do we understand each other?"

Shaw turned to fully face Roark. "Yes, sir," he said.

"We understand each other perfectly."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey never was an overly cautious driver. But he had absolutely no reason to begin now. Not with Misty lying in the back seat bleeding to death. So he had the petal of this cheap POS rental car pressed to the absolute metal. Well, okay. Ellie was constantly reassuring both of them that Misty was doing fine and pleading with him to be careful. Still, it would be nice to get her into a clean, safe hospital.

For one thing, it was all going down much too quickly. The Ring fell for the fake Air Force One explosion hook line and sinker. The very minute they heard the initial news reports of the disaster they sent their teams the go code. Colonel Blum's Special Forces were lying in wait not so patiently listening to their communications. Once they heard the go order, they very enthusiastically captured all ten terrorist teams just as they were moving to attack. They had absolutely no incentive to be gentle. After all, blowing up innocent women and children to make a political statement wasn't a very sympathetic position. So it all happened very efficiently with no causalities. Well, no friendly causalities that is.

It's true that the odd terrorist or two might have 'accidentally' fallen a few times in the capture process. There were a few assorted cases of cuts and bruises. One unfortunate terrorist with apparent bad balance fell several times. He even broke his arm… in three places. It actually became quite a news story in the following weeks. After all, interrogation techniques were a hot button political issue. There eventually was a through investigation. But it was finally decided that there was not enough evidence to proceed and no charges were ever filed.

That just left rounding up the Ring leadership. White was easy. He was just about to leave for the White House to take the Oath of Office when he was arrested. He did them the huge favor of having a press release already prepared announcing his new cabinet. That was pretty much a list of the co-conspirators. The others were going more slowly. It was important that they were all captured at basically the same time and before the press realized that Air Force One hadn't really exploded so they wouldn't go underground. Once the story broke, the press feeding frenzy would require all of the President's attention simply to manage the story and not panic the nation. The President had just arrived back at the White House and was directing the effort from there. But it was still a very fluid situation.

The President had planned all along to send Devon to Walter Reed hospital to oversee any team causalities in the secure wing that was set up there for exactly such an event. He was going to head there as soon as the plane landed so he was probably currently in route. It made sense to take Misty there. It normally would have been about a three hour drive. But Casey was going to get them there in a little over half that.

When they pulled up to the E.R. of Walter Reed, Devon was already standing there not so patiently waiting for them with a medical team. They had Misty out of the car, on a gurney, and into the secure wing before anybody had time to react. Ellie quickly snapped into professional E.R. doctor mode as she walked next to the gurney and efficiently briefed the surgical team on the details of her patient's injuries and her suggested course of action.

The first thing was to get a blood transfusion started. Although Ellie had brilliantly slowed her bleeding as much as possible, Misty still had lost a fair amount of blood. The team was anxious to get her into surgery as soon as possible.

Naturally, Misty was nervous. No question about that. Who wouldn't be? She was quickly being prepped for emergency surgery. That meant for a few minutes, she was surrounded by folks all probing or injecting or asking questions. Devon simply smiled as he grabbed her hand, made sure that she knew that he was going to be in the O.R. with her every second, and then left her and Casey alone to talk for a minute.

Once they were relatively alone Casey wiped some loose hair from Misty's face tenderly. "Don't worry about a thing," he said. "This is nothing for the world's biggest badass. I'll see you when you wake up."

"I'm not worried about me," Misty replied as she grasped his hand. "I'm worried about you. You're going to go back and rejoin the battle."

Casey smiled. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Please," Misty snorted. "Do you really think that I don't know you better than that? You're the heroic sonofabitch, right? Besides, it's what you should do. It's what I want you to do. It's my family too. It's what I would do if I could. I'd tell you to be careful… but that would be pretty pointless wouldn't it?"

"Being careful gets you killed," Casey replied with a grin. "You know that. From the story Ellie was telling in the car, you weren't being careful… at all."

"Okay," Misty said with her own grin. "Fine. Don't be careful then. Have a great time kicking all kinds of ass instead. Remember that I love you." Then she looked at Casey's face. "Don't worry," she said in faux seriousness. "I'm just kind of excited. I'll tone down the romantic, lady feelings stuff a notch. I promise. I'm not expecting you to have to say it twice in one day. Just make sure you're back here by the time I'm feeling frisky. And understand something. I've always been a fast healer."

"Trust me," Casey said. "I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't miss that."

After a long kiss, Devon came and wheeled Misty away. Casey waited until she was out of sight and headed back to the car. To his surprise, Ellie was sitting in the passenger seat. There was a backpack sitting in the back seat.

"Ellie," Casey said. "You need to get out of the car. I'm going…"

"I know where you're going," Ellie interrupted. "Come on, John. I mean duh. I'm going with you."

"You can't go," Casey said firmly. "It's too dangerous. Get out of the car."

"Get out of the car?" Ellie repeated incredulously. "Did you seriously just give me an order? Really? Since when did you become so delusional that you think I would obey one of your orders?"

"I'm sorry that I said it like that," Casey said. "I'm just in a hurry. It wasn't an order. Will you please get out of the car? I don't want to have to worry about you."

"This is my family we're talking about," Ellie said firmly. "They may need a doctor. I'm going. I've brought some medical supplies. If you're in a hurry, then stop wasting time talking about it."

"Just drive the damn car."

x-x-x-x-x

Once the team arrived back at the farmhouse, there really wasn't much time for any tearful reunion. They had to get ready to defend themselves against an imminent attack. Steven quickly deployed the team in defensive positions. He had Cole and Carina join Mary in the attic of the house. It was set up as a sniper post. It had a clear view of three sides of the house. The only blind spot was the barn.

Carina looking lovingly at the assault rifle that Mary handed her. It was a thing of beauty, complete with a long range, night vision, laser scope. Carina was in love… until Mary showed her the battery of missiles that were ready to be deployed. Now Carina was really in love.

Steven sent Sarah and Chuck to the barn where they would have some cover and be in a position to defend the house's flank. One advantage they would have is that they would almost assuredly want Chuck alive. Sarah… probably not so much. But they had night vision goggles, and in the dark that would give the intersect a huge advantage. At least until the sun rose, but that was about an hour away. They all had comm. in their ears. But they had no illusions as to its value. Surely the first thing that Fulcrum would do would be to jam the frequencies so they wouldn't be able to communicate.

Sarah made Chuck put on a vest. That was fair, since Chuck made Sarah put one on as well. He made a big show out of ogling her as she took off the top of her black mission outfit to put it on. She wasn't exactly in a playful mood. After all, this was as tense a situation as it got and Sarah wasn't exactly famous for relaxing in these situations. But even she couldn't help but smile at his faux description of her big beautiful green chest. It was just another reminder that he could make her laugh, no matter what. Remembering her previous unfulfilled promise to use the goggles while skinny dipping, she actually paused and grinned as posed for him a long moment. It did break the tension a bit. After she was dressed they just sat there holding hands in the dark and waited for the attack that they both knew was coming.

In fact, it wasn't very long before they started hearing shots, only a few at first. That was probably Cole and Carina picking off the early advancers. But the volume of shots quickly grew as the attacking force returned fire. It's when they first heard the unmistakable sound of the first missiles being deployed that they realized that the attack had been begun in earnest.

The poor men that decided to try and find cover in the barn soon discovered the folly of that strategy. With night vision and the intersect, Chuck was blowing through men faster than Sarah could count them. They actually had developed something of an impromptu system. The intersect would knock them unconscious and then Sarah would come behind him, secure their weapons, and not so gently zip-tie their arms and legs. They quickly had a couple dozen or so lying around the barn in various stages of helpless consciousness.

Suddenly they found that they had hit a lull for some reason. The battle wasn't over, far from it. If anything the volume of shooting had increased. The morning sun was now high enough in the sky that the night vision goggles were no longer any advantage so they took them off.

Sarah led Chuck to a relatively safe place and over his protests went to check outside to see what was going on with the battle. She was only a few steps away when she heard a shot ring out. When she turned to see where the shot came from she looked in horror as Chuck, seemingly in slow motion, crumpled to the ground.

Sarah was by his side within two seconds. Chuck was laying there, helplessly gasping for breath. The amount of blood told Sarah clearly that the shot had missed his vest. "Chuck," she shouted. "Can you hear me?"

He was clearly struggling to speak so Sarah quickly put her ear close to his mouth.

"I love you," he whispered. "Always remember… I'm going to die loving you."

If she wasn't already, that caused Sarah to panic. Chuck had lost consciousness. So she checked his wrist for a pulse. Nothing. So she frantically checked his neck. Still nothing. "Chuck," she cried. "Please. No. This can't be happening. Please wake up."

"You know, it didn't have to happen this way?"

When Sarah looked up, she saw Daniel Shaw standing on the other side of the room holding his gun by his side, the gun that had just killed her Chuck.

"We could have worked something out," Shaw said. "I'm not the jealous type. I would have shared you. You of all people should know that being a CIA Agent is a life time commitment. There's no room to fall in love. Someday you'll realize that I just did you a big favor. Once you've thought it through, there will come a day when you'll think of some creative way to thank me."

That caused Sarah to simply snap. This insane bastard wasn't going to get away with this. She quickly grabbed her gun and fired off a couple of shots at his retreating form. But he was already too far away.

Sarah really didn't want to leave Chuck, not like this. But there was no longer anything that she could do… except avenge his death. She couldn't leave without kissing her husband goodbye one last time. Then she went off chasing after him.

Shaw had taken one of the ATV's that was parked by the barn. If Sarah was thinking clearly, she would have realized that the Fulcrum forces all around her were in the process of surrendering and that the battle was over. But she wasn't thinking clearly, not even close. All she knew was she had to avenge her husband. There was no way that this bastard was going to live. So she jumped in one of the other ATV's and took off after him.

He wasn't hard to follow. The twisting path only led one place. Sarah had the advantage of being familiar with the course, having raced Carina here only a few short days ago. She pulled out her gun and took a couple of shots in Shaw's direction but in the bouncing vehicle it would have been pure luck to hit anything.

Once Sarah had caught up to him she waited until they were about to go around a sharp curve around one of the many hills that the path wandered around. She gunned her vehicle and went up the steep embankment. Then she turned the wheel sharply and sideswiped Shaw. The momentum caused both vehicles to leave the path, careening totally out of control.

Sarah could feel the tremendous jolt as they impacted the huge tree. Through her dizzy haze as she stumbled out of what was left of her vehicle and fought to remain conscious. She could see that Shaw had been thrown from his and was lying unconscious. Then the blackness overtook her. Sarah fell first to her knees and then face first into the sand.

Shaw finally got his dying wish. Sarah Bartowski was sleeping with him.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was driving as fast as he could back to the farmhouse. On the way to the hospital, he was being fairly careful because Misty was in the back seat. That was no longer true. And that meant a fairly bumpy ride.

At first, Ellie was busy holding on. But she finally decided to hell with it. The situation was so messed up that there wasn't anything to do except to have fun with it. "This is sort of like going to an amusement park and riding the roller coaster," she said with a grin. "Except you don't have to wait in line."

That broke the tension in the car and they both started laughing.

"Can I ask you something?" Casey finally asked. "I'm not looking for false encouragement here. I don't want smoke blown up my skirt. I want your honest opinion." Seeing Ellie's nod, Casey continued. "Am I being fair to her?" he asked. "She can do so much better."

"She's amazing," Ellie replied with a soft smile. "Isn't she? I've never met anyone like her."

"Me either," Casey said. "I feel like I'm cheating her. She needs more than I can give her. Maybe she would be better off if I just ended it."

"Wow," Ellie said in amazement. "You want my honest opinion?" Seeing Casey nod this time, Ellie continued. "That may very well be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What is with you anyway? You really are brain dead when it comes to women, aren't you?"

That actually got a smile. "Well," Casey said. "I'm glad that you're not afraid to be honest."

"Hey," Ellie said as she playfully punched him in the arm. "You asked. Come on, John. If you can't see that she is so clearly head over heels, I don't know what to tell you. And if you weren't too chicken-shit to admit it, we both know that you've got it just as bad as she does. Is it really so bad to be in love with a beautiful, smart, funny woman who clearly worships you? What am I missing here?"

"Okay," Casey said. "Point taken. But don't you want what's best for her? I sure do. And I'm not sure I can give her what she needs. She needs romance. That's not me, Ellie."

"You're talking about your bet, huh?" Ellie asked. When Casey nodded again Ellie smiled. "That was a mistake," she continued. "She knows that now. She doesn't want fake romance from you. She'll settle for what you can give her."

"That's just it," Casey replied sadly. "I don't want her to have to settle."

"That was a bad choice of words," Ellie said. "I think that Misty understands you better than you think. We've gotten pretty close over the past few days. She realizes that you're not going to say romantic things. You're going to prove how you feel with your actions. I think she is fine with that. All she needs to hear from you is that you want it to happen. If you'll just say those exact words to her, she'll let you slide on almost everything. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Having said that, you're going to need to work at this thing a little too. Do you really think there aren't times when I want to stab my eye out with a fork when Devon goes on and on about some new exercise regimen? Or ranting about some high protein shake that looks like it was just fished out of an open sewer? Don't worry. I'm going to help you."

"How?"

"I'm going to be your romance conscience," Ellie replied with a grin. "I'm going to tell you what to do and you're going to do it… no questions asked. It'll be just like the bet you made… except it's going to last for the rest of your life. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yes, ma'am," Casey sighed. "We do." Once they got close, they saw a ton of military type vehicles. Suddenly Casey spotted him and quickly pulled off the road. When he approached the man, his face lit up in recognition. Ellie was right behind him so he quickly introduced him. "Ellie," he said. "This is Jeff McKnight. He is Carina's… umm…"

"I'm Carina's fiancé," Jeff finished the statement with a grin as he offered his hand. "You must be the Misty I've been hearing so much about. You're even more beautiful than I've heard."

Ellie let the mistake and the compliment go. "Carina's fiancé?" she asked skeptically. "Our Carina? How could that be?"

"It's a long story," Casey sighed shaking his head. "One we don't have time for right now. Jeff, what are you doing here?"

"The President sent me," Jeff replied. "I have one of the Special Forces teams with me. What should we do? Attack? When?"

Casey looked around. There was obviously a fierce battle taking place at the house. You could clearly hear all of the shots being fired. But Jeff had about fifty solders in full combat gear ready for an order. "Hell yes,' he said. "There's no time like the present."

That's all it took. "I was hoping you'd say that," Jeff shouted enthusiastically. "You heard the man. Let's move." Then he let out an unintelligible warrior type yell and started running toward the house with the force he was leading right behind him.

All Ellie and Casey could do was look at each other and snicker at Jeff's exuberance. It was finally Ellie who expressed what they were both thinking.

"Go get um, dude."

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah started to wake up, her first reaction was pure relief. _Chuck was fine. It was only a bad dream._ Then she realized that her mouth was full of sand. Full memory quickly rushed back. And, in horror, Sarah remembered Chuck's heartbreaking last words as he died in her arms.

Sarah looked around. At first she was puzzled that she couldn't see anything out of her left eye. But one look down quickly told her why. The sand was soaked with her blood. Shaw was still unconscious lying about ten yards from her. His right arm was obviously broken just by the way it was twisted. His gun was lying in the sand about a foot from his head. So Sarah walked over and threw it out of reach, pulled her own gun out, and waited for him to wake up.

Sarah didn't have very long to wait before he started stirring and then moaning. She resisted the temptation to shoot him now. She wanted this creep to feel it.

Shaw slowly started to gain more consciousness. He carefully pulled himself to his feet being very careful not to use his obviously mangled right arm.

Boom. The shot shattered the eerie silence. When Shaw looked down all he could see was the blood spluttering from his crotch.

"Guess what?" Sarah said with absolutely no humor in her voice. "The days of you using your manhood as a weapon appear to be over. Unless of course, you plan on picking it up off the ground and throwing it at me."

Boom. Shaw's head semi-exploded where Sarah's shot entered. It was a kill shot. He quickly fell dead face first onto the sand.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Sarah kept firing round after round into his head. After a while it took her a long moment to realize that the gun was just clicking. Her clip was empty.

She let the gun drop to the ground, stumbled over to a large tree, backed up against it, and allowed herself to slide down the ground. She sat there numbly waiting for the end.

"Don't worry, sweetie," she whispered to her now dead husband.

"We'll be together again soon."

x-x-x-x-x


	55. The Ex Widow Bartowski

_You really didn't believe I would kill Chuck did you? I never meant for you to think that Chuck was dead. The whole point is that Sarah thinks he was dead. Like several reviewers have pointed out, I've already told you a couple of times that Chuck and Sarah survive. I've told you that they would have a son and name him Bryce Steven. I gave a flash forward a while back where Chuck, Sarah, Devon, Ellie, Casey, and Misty were all together in the future living happy, contented lives. That's why I did that. So I could cliff hang that Chuck is dead with no guilt, lol._

_Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. (yes, still) I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Ex Widow Bartowski**

x-x-x-x-x

_Better the second husband of a widow than the first. – French Proverb_

x-x-x-x-x

When Casey came looking for Sarah, it wasn't hard to spot the carnage of mangled ATVs wrapped around that tree. When he pulled up, he could see Sarah sitting numbly with her back against the tree. Her face looked a bloody mess. It was hard not to notice the giant goose egg on the left side of her head that made her face look sort of lopsided. Her blonde hair was now half red from the gash that was plain on her forehead. But her injuries weren't the first thing that Casey noticed, it was her eyes. They were lifeless… totally defeated. If she was even aware of his presence, she made absolutely no indication.

Of course Casey's first priority was to check on Shaw and make sure that he could no longer pose a threat. Or at least he assumed the man lying there was Shaw. Once he walked up he saw that a good part of his head was missing. He also noted with some amusement the red stain surrounding where his crotch used to be. "I think that maybe you got him," he called over to Sarah with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "Going for both heads I see, very thorough."

When Sarah didn't respond, he walked over to her. "Let's get you to the hospital," he said. "You look a mess."

When Sarah still didn't respond, Casey knelt down and gently grabbed her arm. "Come on," he said. "The battle is over. You're hurt. We have to get you looked at."

Sarah didn't turn to look at Casey. But she jerked her arm away. "Leave me alone," she said numbly. "That bastard shot Chuck. He's gone. He died in my arms. So my life is over. I have no place to go. I'm just going to sit here and die."

Casey knelt to get his mouth as close to Sarah's ear as he could without actually touching her. "Listen to me," he said firmly. "Chuck is not dead."

One of the giant tears that were filling Sarah's eyes fell down her cheek. "Yes he is, Casey," she said. "Do you really think there was any chance that I would leave him there alone if he was still alive? I made sure that he didn't have a pulse before I left."

"Are you a coroner or a doctor of some kind that I don't know about?" Casey asked incredulously. "Are you really qualified to pronounce somebody dead? When I say that he's not dead, I'm not saying that I have a feeling. I'm telling you, dumb ass. Ellie and I found him and she went with him on the chopper to the hospital. I just got off the phone with her. Chuck is in surgery. Devon is in the room observing as we speak. She gave me the standard lecture about there's always some risk with surgery, but she expects him to be okay. To be honest, she was far more worried about you. So if you would stop being so fucking stubborn we could maybe get you to the hospital in time to be by his side when he wakes up. I've heard that's what wives do." Then Casey reached over and gently scooped her up into his arms.

This time Sarah didn't pull away. "Put me down," she said. "I can walk."

But Casey just kept carrying her. "I know that you could," he said gently. "I don't doubt it for a second. Hell, the truth is that you could probably carry me if you had to. But if you're going to stop being a bad-ass spy and learn to be a real girl, maybe you should just shut up and practice letting someone help you for once."

Once Casey had her in the ATV, Sarah turned to him. "Are you telling me the truth about Chuck?" she asked softly. "Or is this just a story to get me to go to the hospital? I couldn't find a pulse at all."

"I might do something like that if I was desperate enough," Casey admitted. "But I promise that I'm telling you the truth. Chuck is going to be fine. This is all over. There's really only one way to prove that to you."

"Let's get you there so you can see for yourself."

x-x-x-x-x

Even with Casey being ultra careful, it was only a five minute ride back to the house, and from there only a ten minute chopper ride to the hospital. So Sarah quickly found herself in a treatment room with an ice pack on her head. The big battle was that the attendants wanted to put her on a stretcher. Naturally that wasn't going to fly. Sarah was insistent, like only Sarah could be, that she could walk. Casey finally brokered a compromise before any real hostilities broke out and Sarah rode from the chopper in a wheelchair.

Sarah's black mission clothes were torn, dirty, and a bloody mess. So they brought a gown for her to change into. Casey left, ostensibly to give her some privacy to change. But Misty was just being transferred to her real room. Sarah just barely had the gown in place when Ellie breathlessly burst into the room wearing doctor's scrubs.

"Hey sweetie," she said as she walked around to help her fasten the dreaded hospital gown and give her a hug. "How are you feeling? I've been worried sick about you. Don't worry. After you shower, we'll find you something better to wear. But let's get you stitched up."

"How's Chuck?" Sarah asked nervously.

"He's still in surgery," Ellie said. "Don't worry. Devon is in the room observing. I just talked to him. It's going quite a lot better than they feared. In fact, we're going to have to hustle a little if we want to get you in the recovery room before he wakes up."

"Ellie," Sarah said sadly. "Are you telling me the truth? I mean, please don't hide anything from me. I'm sorry to say it like that… but I couldn't find a pulse."

"That's not so unusual," Ellie said calmly. "He was bleeding pretty heavily. When blood pressure drops that rapidly and the patient is in shock, it's hard to find a pulse with your fingers, even for a professional. And you were in the dark on a cement floor, your own heart was beating a million times a second, and you were scared to death. We were right behind you. If you had waited for a few seconds more Casey and I would have been there. If we had been a few minutes later, Chuck might not have made it. But I had his bleeding slowed and a blood transfusion in him in seconds. And we were in the chopper on our way here within five minutes. They had him on the table before the chopper blades had even stopped spinning."

Sarah still looked skeptical so Ellie walked around to face her and grabbed both of her hands. "Sweetie, I want you to think about something for a second," she said. "I don't blame you for being scared. You've been through hell. I can't imagine what you were feeling in that barn thinking the worst had happened. But you need to ask yourself this question. If Chuck was dead, could I possibly be this giddy?"

As scared as Sarah was she had to admit, it was a very, very, very good point.

"I need you to listen to me," Ellie continued with a smile. "It's true that Chuck has been seriously hurt. Gunshot wounds are no laughing matter. He is going to be in the hospital for a couple days. When he gets home, he'll need his wife to take good care of him. He'll be spending a lot of his time on the couch or in bed for a week or so. He might experience some tenderness for as long as a month. There is an outside chance that he'll eventually need some physical therapy to restore the full range of motion in his shoulder. But soon your husband will be back to his unbelievably nerdy, good as new, self. Your biggest challenge is going to be waiting on him hand and foot for the next month. I don't envy you that duty. Trust me. He loves to be babied. He's not above using guilt. He is going to milk that for everything you'll let him get away with."

Sarah didn't know what to say. The news seemed too good to be true. She wouldn't totally believe it until she saw him. But now she had hope… and the associated worry that came along for the ride. She had to spend a long moment blinking away the relieved tears. "So why are you so giddy?" she finally asked.

"Remember in Cancun when we were sitting there watching the news reports of the DEA Agents being rescued?" Ellie asked with a grin. "It seems pretty ironic. We were waiting for Chuck to wake up then as well. Remember how on cloud nine we were?"

That actually got a faint smile from Sarah. "Well, mostly you," she said.

"That's true," Ellie admitted. "But this is ten times as bad. The coup attempt is the story of the century. And unlike Cancun, this time they know our names. The hospital is literally surrounded by mobile news vans. There are enough reporters downstairs to fill a football stadium. They're flashing our pictures on every channel. They seem to be paying extra attention to us girls for obvious reasons, especially you and Misty. She is now the most famous cocktail waitress who's ever lived. We're famous national heroes. Well, international heroes actually. I saw on the news that the President just called the British Prime Minister to thank him for Cole and Brigid's assistance. There's talk that he might even get knighted out of the deal. Once that happens there'll be no living with him. He'll be expecting everyone to call him Sir Cole."

"Oh lord," Sarah replied sarcastically with a little broader of a smile. "We'll probably have to curtsey whenever he walks into the room. Thank goodness Brigid is here to keep him in check or he'd probably have us all surrounding him in our bikinis, fanning him and feeding him grapes."

"I haven't met Brigid yet," Ellie said. "But from what Carina tells me, I don't think that will be happening. That reminds me. We don't have time for it now… but Carina… engaged? You owe me a story."

"I know," Sarah agreed. "If you can believe it, it's actually kind of a sweet love story. I was just teasing about Cole." Then her eyes narrowed. "This isn't your hospital," she said. "Why are they letting you act as a doctor?"

"I'm not sure if I'm technically even licensed to practice here," Ellie said with a laugh. "But it doesn't matter because they're scared to death of me. The President was here personally just about an hour ago. He actually hugged me. He also very loudly made it incredibly clear that we're to get whatever we want or need. They have been falling all over themselves trying to stay out of my way. I think if I told them I was hungry for fresh lobster, they would send someone to Maine to get one."

After Ellie stitched up the gash on Sarah's forehead, she waited patiently while Sarah quickly used the sit down shower. Then she gave Sarah some scrubs. Once she was dressed she made her sit on the bed and helped her blow dry her hair. "You are really a trooper," Ellie said. "Chuck or Devon would have been crying like a schoolgirl when I put in those stitches. I couldn't use a very strong numbing agent. I wouldn't want to affect the baby."

"Baby?" Sarah questioned. "What baby?"

"They didn't tell you?" Ellie asked with a grin. "Oh my God, I thought you knew. It's another reason why I'm so giddy. With a female patient of your age, the first thing they always do in the ER is draw a blood sample and test it. It came back positive. You have a Bartowski bun in your oven." Then responding to Sarah's dazed, confused look, she decided to be a tad more on the blunt side. "You're pregnant."

"Oh my God," Sarah breathed.

"I know," Ellie said with a laugh. "It's been one hell of a day, hasn't it? I haven't had a chance to tell you this yet, and Devon doesn't even know. But I'm pregnant too."

Sarah didn't know what to say, so they just hugged for a long moment. "Maybe you should think about actually getting married," she teased. "It's not all that bad."

"Our bet on which one of us has the first boy just got a little more interesting, huh?" Ellie asked with a laugh. "Let's take you down and get you with your husband. I'll drive."

Sarah just looked at the wheelchair. "I can walk," she said. "I feel fine."

Ellie sighed. "Sweetie," she said. "I know that you think you can walk. And you probably could. But you just took a serious blow to the head. If you were a normal patient you'd be in bed right now fairly heavily sedated. But you're one tough cookie. And it's my medical opinion that what you really need is to be with Chuck. Please don't make me be the heavy doctor here. I understand that you never want to be perceived as being weak. But please. It would be silly to risk getting dizzy and falling, right? This day's been bad enough. Besides, would it really be so bad to let someone help you for once? It doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you're loved."

How could Sarah possibly argue with that? So she gave in and sat in the chair. "Please hurry," she said. "I'm really anxious to see him."

"Okay," Ellie said with a laugh as she began to push the chair. "Just so you know. There is a speed limit."

"Oh yeah," Sarah said with her first genuine laugh.

"Since when do you obey rules?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was finally sitting in the recovery room next to her still sleeping husband. For the first time in several hours she was able to take a solid breath. Any other time she would have been more than a little concerned. After all, he looked incredibly pale laying there. And he was hooked up to quite possibly every machine that a hospital could offer. But he was alive. So he couldn't have possibly looked more perfect. His chest raising and falling as he breathed comfortably on his own was very visible. For now, that's all that mattered. For a long time she just grabbed his hand, put her head down on the bed over their clasped hands, and openly sobbed in relief. In fact she cried harder than she ever had before in her life as all of the morning's emotions finally came spilling out. But that was over. He was going to wake up any minute and she wanted to look her absolute best for him. She probably didn't have time to put on any makeup… and these stupid hospital scrubs weren't all that flattering. But letting him see tears when he woke up simply wouldn't do. So she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Hello gorgeous."

Naturally, that caused her to jerk her head up. The voice wasn't all that strong. Actually it was little more than a whisper. But he was clearly awake. Sarah couldn't have kept the silly grin from her face had she wanted to. At first she just stood up and reached over to very gently kiss him.

"Am I in trouble?"

As giddy as Sarah was, that caused her to laugh out loud. Even in this circumstance, he could make her laugh. "You're in so much trouble," she said in faux seriousness. "We've talked several times about how much I hate it when you let me think that you're dead. I also believe that I told you specifically not to get yourself shot. You never listen to me on missions. Thankfully, that was our last one." Then she got a little more serious and reached up to cup his cheek lovingly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired," Chuck admitted groggily. "I know that you're tired too. We've been running around like mad for the past month… and for the years before that. Can we maybe take some time and get away? Just you and me, maybe take that honeymoon that we never got? Maybe we can go back to Cancun and lay on the beach for a month?"

Sarah sat back down by his side, grabbed his good hand, and held it firmly. "When you're feeling better," she said with a grin. "Resting on the beach is only a very small part of a honeymoon. If you think that I'm going on my one and only shot at this until you're ready to perform the required duties, well think again mister. Not happening. I expect you to impress me… and my expectations are now sky high. I expect all of your best moves and then some. If you think that you're tired now, wait until I get done with you. Maybe you'll even need to step up your game a notch."

If that daunted Chuck at all, he didn't show it. In fact he looked at her with a definite sparkle in his eyes. "In that case could we perhaps take that doctor outfit you're wearing?" he asked hopefully. "It's pretty sexy. Maybe I'm not the only one who needs to step up his game a notch. How about we play a little slutty doctor? Her patient is clinically depressed. That won't fly. She has a professional reputation to think about. In order to get him healed she has to figure out some way to cheer him up. And she's incredibly dedicated to her profession. She would do anything…"

"I'll see what I can do," Sarah said with a laugh. "When you're up to it. It sounds like you've already put some measure of thought into this particular fantasy. Something your wife should know about? Did a nerd once have a crush on one of his sister's doctor friends maybe?"

Chuck smiled faintly. "That's the great thing about doctors," he teased. "You don't have to be up to it. They do all the work. They've taken an oath." But then he got a little more serious. He reached out his hand weakly to indicate the bandage on her head. "You're hurt," he said. "How are you doing? What about the rest of the team?"

"I'm only going to tell you the general stuff," Sarah said. "I don't know most of the details myself. We'll talk about them more thoroughly later. But it's all pretty good. You already know that Misty was shot. Actually in pretty much the same place you were. She's about three doors down and Ellie says she's feeling great, almost too good. She's already walking around. In fact Ellie told me that she had to give her a stern lecture about no fooling around with Casey in the hospital bed. She is expected to fully recover in about the same time frame as you are. When you take your nap, I'll go in and see her for a minute. Carina sprained her ankle pretty severely so she's going to be on crutches for a few weeks. Personally I think that she's probably embellishing it a tad so that Jeff will carry her around, but Ellie says that he doesn't seem to mind. She didn't even try and give Carina a stern lecture. That would be pointless. So everybody's being warned to very carefully knock before they go into her room. Fortunately, I think she's about ready to go home, wherever that is. Oh, and I got a mild concussion and seven stitches."

"What about Orion and Frost?" Chuck asked.

Sarah paused for a moment. She really didn't know how much to tell him in this situation. But she finally settled on the truth. "They're gone," she admitted sadly. "But you already knew that."

Chuck nodded sadly. Naturally the tears streaming down his face caused Sarah's tears to flow as well. "Ellie told me that the President is going to make a speech tomorrow honoring Orion and Frost as national heroes," she said as soon as she could get the words out. "He is going to tell the country about how they've sacrificed for the past twenty years and award them Medals of Freedom posthumously. They are going to get a monument dedicated to them next to their graves at Arlington."

"I'm really going to miss them," Chuck finally sighed as he composed himself. "It was nice living with my parents again. Who knows when we'll see them next? That actually brings up a good point. So where is our home now?"

"I have no idea," Sarah admitted. "Maybe we should talk about that. I have no idea what my hotel room in Burbank looks like."

Chuck took the hand he was holding and gently lifted it to his lips. "We can talk about that later," he said. "How are you feeling? You look drained. Maybe you should take a nap."

"How am I feeling?" Sarah asked incredulously, trying to cheer him up. "Chuck, I seriously thought you were dead. Drained? Maybe that'll catch up with me soon enough. But the honest truth is that right now I'm so happy to be the Ex Widow Bartowski that I could flap my arms and fly around this room a few times. Do you want me to prove it?"

"What about Shaw?" Chuck asked cautiously.

Sarah lost most of her smile. "Daniel Shaw is currently in hell where he belongs," she replied with a half grimace. "The sick son of a bitch is missing about three quarters of his head and all of his man parts. And that's only because I ran out of ammo. I'm sorry that you didn't get to help."

Chuck nodded. "So this is over?" he asked hopefully.

Sarah took Chuck's hand that she was holding and squeezed for all she was worth. "Yes, sweetie," she said. "This is over, for us anyway. The only thing that remains is the cleanup. We won. Now it's time for healing and to get on with our life." Sarah paused for a moment. She had actually planned on waiting until he was more alert to tell him. But she just couldn't wait. "There's something else you need to know," she said.

"Something else?"

"Yes, Chuck," Sarah said. "Something else. I just found this out myself about twenty minutes ago. But the way it turned out, you're soon going to be a daddy."

If Sarah was worried at all about Chuck being alert enough to understand, she needn't have. His grin couldn't have been any bigger. He made a big show out of lifting the sheet and looking down. "Way to go swimmers," he said.

Sarah was pretty much forced to agree. So she stood up and kissed him again. And although she was still being mindful to be extremely careful of the oxygen tube that was in his nose, this time it was a legitimate kiss. "You're right, sweetie," she said.

"Way to go swimmers."

x-x-x-x-x


	56. Loose Ends

_Okay. Just some last details to wrap up and then the finale._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**Loose Ends**

x-x-x-x-x

_It is with the loose ends by which men hang themselves. – Zelda Fitzgerald_

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was sitting in the chair next to his bed watching her husband sleep. He had been sleeping pretty much constantly for the two hours since being moved out of recovery and basically next door into a regular room. There was no cause for concern. Ellie told her that was to be totally expected. In fact he would sleep most of the day. The longer he slept, the better it was. And truth be told, Sarah never got tired of watching him sleep anyway. He was simply so damn cute.

Actually, Sarah promised Chuck that she would try and get a nap in as well. And she hated lying to Chuck. She had honestly tried to sit in the chair and doze. But she was definitely still far to pumped up from the range of emotions she had gone through already this morning. Ellie was right. It had been a hell of a day. From the horror of seeing Chuck die right before her eyes, to the unbelievably joyous miracle of finding out that he was going to be okay. And on top of that, to find out that they were about to start their family. Well, sleep probably wasn't in Sarah's near term future.

Sarah wasn't surprised by the light knock on the door. After all, people had been popping in all morning to check up on Chuck. It was nice. But Sarah was definitely surprised by who popped in this time.

"Hey," Jeff McKnight said softly. "He's sleeping?"

Sarah wasn't hostile… but she really didn't go out of her way to make any attempt to be nice either. "Yes," she was all she said.

"I'll come back later," Jeff said. But then he paused. "I wanted to see how he's doing. Carina is pretty worried about him. She would just never admit it. And I wanted to thank him for his help in London. We wouldn't have happened without him. But I also need to say something to you."

That got the concerned glance.

"Look," Jeff continued. "Sarah, I know that I'm not your favorite person. I don't blame you for that. I really can't even come up with a good excuse. I was an immature jerk. So I'm not expecting forgiveness or anything. But I just want to go on record as saying how embarrassed and sorry I am. And if someday you ever feel like you could give me a second chance, I'd be most grateful. I'd make damn sure that you never regret it."

When Jeff turned to leave, Sarah stopped him. "Tell me something, Jeff," she said. "Be honest with me. What's the real deal with you and Carina? You should know something. She may look tough as nails. But the truth is she's scared, out of her comfort zone, and simply incredibly vulnerable right now. If she gets hurt in this deal…"

That caused Jeff to turn back and look Sarah in the eye. "I understand that you and I have our differences," he said. "I'll take all the blame for that. I also understand that you're protective of Carina. I think it's great that she has such devoted friends. But you don't have to worry about her. Not from me anyway. I'm far more protective of her than you are. I'm crazy about her."

Once Jeff left, Sarah looked at the door well after he was gone, deep in thought.

"That sounded sincere to me."

Sarah turned to find a clearly now awake Chuck smiling at her. "Why don't you like him?" he asked.

"He hit on me incessantly," Sarah said. "Do you know what that feels like?"

"Actually, I don't," Chuck said with a smirk. "I think I can safely say that I've never been hit on incessantly. Surprising, isn't it? I have to say. From where I'm standing it doesn't sound all that bad."

That got Sarah laughing. "Well it is," she said. "He was crude, obnoxious, and relentless. It was awful."

"People change," Chuck said softly. "They grow up. Look at you. You're not the same person you were ten years ago. Neither am I. Maybe he isn't either."

"So you're saying I should forgive him?" Sarah asked.

"I'm not saying that," Chuck said. "That's not even for me to say. Only you can make that call. All I'm saying is that people change. There was a time when you hated Casey's guts."

"Okay," she sighed. "Point taken."

"Now it's time for your punishment," Chuck said. "Take off your top."

That got a double take… followed by a knowing smirk. "Punishment?" she asked. "Is that what we're calling it now? Isn't it a bit soon for slutty doctor? Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Huh?" Chuck asked. Then he realized what she was thinking. "This isn't sex. At least, I don't think so. You lied to me. You didn't take a nap at all, did you? And after you promised me? We have a baby to look out for. Now take it off."

Sarah was clearly confused. But she did reach for the hem of her top and began to lift it over her head. "Chuck," she said guiltily. "I didn't lie to you. I just can't sleep. I'm too keyed up." Then she paused about half way. "People have been walking into this room all morning. You do realize that I'm not wearing anything under this?"

"No kidding," Chuck said sarcastically. "I was shot in the shoulder, not the eyes. I can still see." He held out his hand to indicate that he wanted her top. "Get in bed with me."

"Chuck," Sarah said hesitantly as she lifted the top over her head and handed it to him. For a second, she instinctively raised her arms to cover her chest. Then she remembered how silly that would be. This was her husband. "Be reasonable. It's too soon for this. You just got out of surgery a few hours ago. I don't want to hurt your shoulder."

Seeing her hesitate, Chuck held up the nurse call button. "I'd hurry if I were you," he said with something of his own smirk. "Once I push this button, the nurse is going to come flying in here in about two seconds. About half the time the doctor comes in with her. If you want to give them a show, well, that's your decision."

Sarah's face still indicated massive confusion. But she really had no choice. She carefully climbed into bed next to him. Chuck pulled up the sheet to an appropriate level. When the nurse came basically running into the room, Chuck smiled. "I'm sorry," he said. "There is nothing wrong. But I need a big favor. Could you take this and bring it back in… say three hours?"

The Second Lieutenant Nurse didn't have a clue what was going on in here. And frankly, she wasn't in any sort of mood to hang around long enough to find out. After all, she was standing right there when The President made it personally clear to the staff that these folk were to get absolutely anything that they asked for. So she simply took the top from him. "Yes, sir," was all she said before leaving.

"Okay," Sarah said with a laugh. "I get it. Pretty sneaky. Now I'm stuck here for three hours."

"Exactly," Chuck said. "You might as well take a nap, right? This is perfect. I can be sure that you take a nap. I get to snuggle with my beautiful wife while she tells me how glad she is that I'm not dead." Then he lifted the sheet a bit. "And the view doesn't suck either. Are you cold… or is it just umm… something else?"

Sarah was still giddy enough that she couldn't keep in the giggles. "This is so much a Chuck Bartowski plan," she finally was able to get out. "It has all of the classic elements. Totally out of left field, all the bases covered in an unbelievably nerdy way… and me naked."

But Sarah's protests were clearly faux in nature. It actually felt wonderful lying next to him. They hadn't been in a real bed in a long time. And his soft rubbing of her back was quickly doing its intended job. So she just gave in and turned over on her side to snuggle, being very careful to stay on his good side. "Okay, Mr. Bartowski," she sighed sleepily as she reached up to carefully give him a quick peck on the lips. "You win. But let's get a few things straight. It's sweet that you're looking out for me, more than sweet. So I'll take your nap. But you're the one who is hurt. I'm going to be waiting on you hand and foot for the next week, attending to your every need, and I really don't want to hear any bitching about it. So that means next time it's probably you that gets naked. I'm thinking sponge bath. And for the record, I'm not even the least bit cold. It's… umm, something else."

Within five minutes they were both sound asleep.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was in the middle of the very best dream of her life. It was like she was floating on a cloud. A fluffy, warm cloud. Naturally, Sarah had been hurt so seriously on missions in the past that she had been given morphine for pain several times. And that was nice. No question. It's no wonder people got addicted to it. But this feeling beat even that… by a wide margin. It was like she didn't have a care in the world.

When she finally reluctantly opened her eyes, she found herself cuddled with Chuck's good arm wrapped protectively around her. And she realized… it wasn't a dream. This was her new life. Sarah had never been this genuinely happy in her whole life, not even close. She actually didn't have a care in the world. Not really.

"Hi gorgeous," Chuck said with a smile as he reached down to kiss her.

It wasn't until the long kiss broke that Sarah realized that Ellie was sitting in the chair next to them – and it was only a short moment after that to realize that the sheet that was supposed to be covering her had ridden down to the point of just barely doing it's intended job. Sarah pretended to stretch and pulled the sheet back up where it belonged. "That was a nice nap," she said.

For her part Ellie was making absolutely no effort to keep the smirk from her face. "I guess so," she said in faux seriousness. "Five hours. That's not exactly a nap. By the way, the last time I walked in on one of your 'naps', Chuck had his hand half way up your shirt. This time, you're not even wearing one. Maybe Mom was right. I'd better start knocking. Really, Sarah. In a hospital bed? Maybe I'm in the wrong room. This is more what I would expect from Carina. Is she here?"

Sarah was really in no mood to back down in the face of Ellie's teasing. "Oh for the love of God," she sighed. "Are you in here looking for pointers again? I had no choice but to use a hospital bed. I couldn't find a supply closet."

Ellie clearly blushed at Sarah's obvious reference to her first meeting with Devon. "I knew that I should have never told you that story," she said with a grin. "For the record, Devon didn't go into that closet weak from just having been in surgery."

Now it was Sarah's turn to smirk. "He may not have walked into that closet weak," she said. "But I'll bet a month's salary that he walked out breathing pretty heavy, perhaps a little dehydrated, and…"

"Can we please call a truce?" Chuck interrupted. "Hello? Sick guy stuck here in bed? One who is about to hurl?"

"Sorry, sweetie," Sarah said. Then she turned to her sister. "We can finish this conversation later. When can we go home?"

"Yeah," Chuck said. "Good question."

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk you about," Ellie said. "We would normally want to keep a patient in a situation like Chuck's for three days. Mostly just to keep an eye out for any sign of infection."

"Three days," Sarah moaned in frustration. "Seriously?"

"Three days," Ellie repeated. "But I have a proposition for you."

That peaked Sarah's interest. "Shoot," she quickly said.

"The infirmary that Dad created in the basement of the farmhouse is basically equipped like a hospital," Ellie said. "And there would be two doctors personally looking after Chuck and Misty. You would be a lot more comfortable sleeping in your own bed and eating real meals. It'd also be a lot more private. And we're only a ten minute helicopter ride back here if something unexpected came up."

"What is the security situation?" Sarah quickly asked. "Would we be making ourselves an easy target to whatever Fulcrum force is still walking around looking for revenge?"

"It's totally secure," Ellie said. "I talked to Agent McKnight. I really like him, by the way, once he calmed down anyway. The army has already cleaned up from the battle. The President offered to leave a force there guarding the perimeter until further notice. It's not Fulcrum they're even worried about. If any of us so much as poke our big toe out of this secured area, the reporters are going to be all over us. The army will keep them away."

"Great," Chuck piped in. "Let's go."

Sarah reached over and grabbed her husband's hand affectionately. "Something tells me that Ellie has some conditions," she said.

That got a grin. "Absolutely," Ellie said. "Chuck's doing far better than one would normally expect with these injuries and Misty is doing even better. But I'm simply not prepared to take any medical chances here. An infection is still a very real threat with any surgery. And an infection could very quickly get very serious. If we go back to the house, it's got to be with the understanding that we treat the situation with the proper respect. Chuck is still a patient… my patient. And that means he is going to have to take it easy for a couple of days."

"How easy?" Chuck asked.

Ellie may have answered Chuck… but she was looking directly at Sarah. "Very easy," she said.

"That means that Sarah keeps her shirt on."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was right. It was much more comfortable. This house had become like home to them. The only down side was it reminded them of how much they missed Frost and Orion.

By the time they got there it was basically bed time, especially for the two patients. Misty actually resisted a little. She wanted to sit down with the gang and talk for a while. After all, she had never met Jeff, Cole, or Brigid. But finally, Casey put his foot down and made her come with him to bed. It was a good thing, because Ellie was just about to put her own foot down.

Chuck on the other hand, didn't resist bed at all. Sarah wasn't really tired. After all she had napped all afternoon. But she did have a good time cuddling with him until he was soundly sleeping. Then she went back out and talked for a while. But even then, she clearly wasn't comfortable with Chuck out of her sight. So after checking on him about twenty times in the first hour, she finally just gave up and went to where she really wanted to be… in bed with her husband watching him sleep.

That first full day might have been a little awkward. Especially for Brigid. She had never met Ellie before. But she had certainly heard all about her. She had heard every detail of the story. In fact she demanded that Cole tell her over and over again. This was the woman who had spent two weeks in the same bed with him in Cancun. Not to mention the see-through negligee and within a whisper of torrid sex. Brigid expected her to be pretty. After all, that's how Cole described her. But it was more than a little disconcerting to actually see for herself how truly beautiful she really was. And it also didn't help that the doctor in Ellie was ruling the house with somewhat of an iron fist.

So when Carina introduced Brigid to the lake, it was a huge relief. As unlikely as it seemed, they were on the fast path to becoming close friends. Brigid was actually sad that Jeff and taken Carina away to Florida to meet his parents. They would be gone for a few days. So to pass the time Cole and Brigid basically spent all day at the lake, much like Ellie and Misty had a week ago.

In fact the whole team started spending most of their time at the lake. It was very relaxing. Even Ellie had to admit that it was the perfect place for healing. The first couple of days, she was pretty uptight about it. But now her biggest worry was trying to keep Misty out of the water.

Chuck was a different story. He spent most of his time on a blanket, just out of sight, necking with Sarah. At least she promised that it was only necking… so far.

It was late in the afternoon of the third day when the necking took a decided turn to the serious side. Sarah finally broke the latest long kiss. "Hey," she said in mock seriousness. "You're actually getting pretty decent at this kissing thing."

"Thanks," Chuck said. "I think anyway. Was that a left-handed compliment?"

"You'll see," Sarah said. "Ellie and I have to go for a drive for a few minutes. I'll see you back at the house. Rest up. Tonight's a big night for us."

"Big night?" Chuck asked in confusion. "Why? Where are you going?"

Even in the bright sunlight, Sarah's smile lit up the sky. "It's a secret," she said.

"You'll see."

x-x-x-x-x

Ted Roark sat in the bar pondering his choices. Well, it wasn't exactly a bar. It was more like a private party… set in a bar like setting. One of Roark's bright up-and-comers came up with the idea a few years ago. It was hard for one of the richest men in the world to cruise bars looking for chicks. The security considerations alone were a nightmare. So they created the club. It was basically a nightly party sponsored by the company in a totally secured environment. And that was a semi-legitimate business write off. Sometimes employees actually got invited to attend as a reward for doing some particularly good job and making the company an extra million or so. But mostly the club was designed to bring the chicks to Roark in a controlled environment. It really wasn't even all that expensive to maintain, a nightly buffet, some liquor, and a DJ… after taxes of course.

And there was no lack of beautiful woman eager to attend, mostly wannabe actresses and models. Indeed, there was a waiting list to get invited. It was perfect from a security perspective. Each woman was vetted before they set foot inside the club. In some ways, it sounded like a high priced brothel. But it really wasn't like that. No money ever changed hands. That would be something that could come back to haunt you. It's true that he sometimes did favors for his girls. If an aspiring actress wanted a role, well a quick call to the producer from Ted Roark was known to do wonders. For one thing, the producer would always take that call. Nobody was eager to piss off Ted Roark, not with the hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising budget that he controlled. If that meant casting someone for a role who wasn't the first choice, well it was a small price. And it quickly became pretty common knowledge with the ladies how to motive Ted to make that call. Once they became established, they invariably stopped attending the club. But that was fine. They were quickly replaced with the next one on the list.

Losing Fulcrum had been a tough deal. But Ted was nothing if not a pragmatist. Fulcrum was gone. The reports were that the agents were being methodically rounded up one by one. Those that remained had gone underground so they were worthless from an operational perspective. And while Roark knew that nothing could be tied to him, it was still tough. So he had been drowning his sorrows at the club pretty much every night.

"Would you like another drink, Ted?" Amy asked.

Ted shook himself from his gloomy thoughts. After all, if you had to be depressed, there was nothing like spending the night with Amy to cheer you up. She was incredible, dark flowing hair, flashing smile, and with dark smoldering eyes that promised passion to spare. She was a relative newbie, maybe a month or so, but Ted was going to be sorry to see her go. But Amy clearly wasn't long for the club. She was going to make it. Ted had actually put off making the call she wanted. But it was probably time to pay off. After all, Amy had proved over the past few nights that she was an excellent actress. Ted was nothing but honest. He didn't put any effort into making her moan like that. "Why don't we get out of here?" he asked.

If Amy was disappointed at having to leave the party so early, she certainly didn't show it. Indeed, her smile was flashing. "Great," she said. "I'm really excited. My agent called today. I'm up for a new role. I can't wait to tell you about it. Maybe I can show you what I plan on doing for the audition. Can we go to my room? My script is there."

"Of course," Ted said. He had been to Amy's hotel room a few times now. The first couple of times, his security people were pretty uptight about it. But now it was pretty routine. They would only secure the lobby. As always, his limo was ready waiting. So they were at the hotel and in her room within ten minutes.

There was one great thing about Amy. She clearly understood the situation. There was really no question as to why they were here, and it wasn't really to talk. So there was no advantage to being subtle. The first thing that Amy did once they were comfortably in the room was to hand Ted his favorite drink and then push him on the couch. Then she stood in front of him, made a big show out of unzipping her skirt, and allowed it to fall to the floor. She straddled Ted facing him, put her arms around his head and pressed her mouth to his.

Ted had to admit, he was now much less depressed. Once the long and incredibly passionate kiss broke, Ted began to unbutton her blouse. He quickly had it tossed to the floor. "Tell me about this role that you're up for," Ted said with a grin as he reached behind her to unfasten her bra and allowed it to join her shirt on the floor.

As soon as Amy was naked, she slid to the floor and unfastened Ted's pants. He lifted his hips to allow her to easily pull them off. When they were both naked, she climbed back on his lap. "It's the best role," she said between kisses. "My agent is very excited. I play a CIA agent who has to pose as an actress to fuck a famous rich guy and lure him away from his security so that I can kill him." Then she pulled back. "In fact, look. Here's my agent right now."

Ted looked past Amy to the three women who had just come out the bedroom. "Mary," he said in shock. "What are you doing here? You're dead."

"Wow," Mary said with a short laugh. "Is that any way to greet an ex-fiancé? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not dead, Agent Frost is. Be sure to say hi to her once you get to hell."

Suddenly the realization hit Ted that he was in serious trouble.

Amy climbed off Ted's lap. "I just have to tell you something," she said. "Not that it really matters, but I've done this a lot. And wow, you are one lousy lay. Seriously, the world's worst."

Sarah stepped up to hug her. "Hey, Zondra," she said. "I've really missed you. It's been a long time. I see you're wearing your usual mission outfit – nothing."

Zondra seemed to take Sarah's shot in stride. "Hey," she said with a smile. "We need him naked, right?"

Sarah turned back to Ted and stuck out her hand. "Sarah Bartowski," she said in a businesslike manner. "From the firm of Bartowski, Bartowski, and Bartowski. I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. I do have to say, whenever I imagined this moment over the past years, you weren't naked. I could have done without that little detail… and I do mean little. Allow me to introduce my sister-in-law, Ellie Bartowski."

Ellie stepped up and stuck out her own hand.

Ted ignored the hands that were clearly intended to mock him. He turned to Mary. "What's going on here?" he asked. "You do realize that I have security in the building. It's totally secure."

"I know," Mary said. "But let's examine this critically for a moment, shall we? Your Roark Security people aren't Fulcrum. They don't know us at all. Right now they are all in the lobby thinking you're up here getting laid. We're going to be able to walk right past them without a care in the world. Besides, we always knew that we simply couldn't kill you. Even if we could get past your people, you're far too famous. If you were killed, there would be questions. Investigations would be launched. It could possibly even lead back to us. That would be bad. It might interrupt my practice time. That wouldn't do. Steven was just saying the other day how I was in mid-season form. I'm not exactly sure what that means but I'm pretty sure that it's good. And making him happy is what I'm devoting the rest of my life to. So shooting, or beating you to death, or cutting off a bunch of your fingers like Sarah here wanted was out. But if you were to die naturally…"

"You see, Ted," Ellie said. "You're not exactly a spring chicken. And when a man of your age becomes sexually involved with someone as young and in shape as my new friend Zondra here, well as a doctor, I'd have to advise you of the risk to your heart."

Sarah raised her gun and fired a dart into Ted's chest. "This is a drug designed by the CIA a long time ago," she said. "It's designed to produce an untraceable fatal heart attack. It's quite effective. For the record, you're getting off easy you son of a bitch. You caused my husband a lot of misery. You also cost me a year of being with him. So Mom here is absolutely right. If this was my decision, I'd have made this a whole hell of a lot more painful for a lot, lot longer. Not to brag but that's sort of my specialty."

They stood there and watched as Ted Roark struggled for a moment, and then was still.

"Goodbye Ted," Mary said as she pulled the dart from his now lifeless body. Then she turned to Sarah. "Well, that's the final loose end cleaned up, the war is officially over."

Sarah just nodded with a sad smile. "It's over," she agreed.

"Give your husband a big hug for me," Mary said. "Take good care of that grandbaby. We'll see you soon."

Ellie threw her arms around her mother's neck. "Say hi to Dad for us. When are we going to see you again?"

Mary hugged her daughter affectionately. "That's up to your dad," she said. "I know that this is hard, but it's only for a little while. Orion and Frost had to die. Otherwise we would never escape from all the questions. He'll want to wait until all the attention around you has died down. He's thinking a year. I'm sorry that we're going to miss the wedding. We really wanted to be there. Tell Devon how happy we are that he's officially in the family. But I know Steven is as anxious as I am to hold our new grandkids. So don't be surprised to see us any time after that."

After Ellie finally let go, Mary hugged Sarah. "Did you really think he was dead?" she asked. "I can't imagine how horrible that must have been."

"It was indescribable," Sarah said softly. "In fact I need to get back to him. This is kinda a big night for us." Then she turned to Zondra. "Are you okay?"

Zondra just looked skeptical. "Do you think that this is my first rodeo?" she asked sarcastically. "I don't know what happened officer. He was moaning for me to go faster… and all of a sudden he just collapsed."

"Eww," Ellie said. "I could have gone without hearing that."

"Sorry," Zondra said with a grin. Then she turned back to Sarah. "Seriously," she said. "You're married. Carina is engaged. I swear, if you try and fix me up with someone, I'll stab you in the arm."

"Don't worry," Sarah said with a laugh.

"Someone has to keep the world safe for meaningless sex."

x-x-x-x-x


	57. The Not So Virgin Islands

_Wow, fifty seven chapters. But like the show that this story is based on, it's time to wrap this up._

_I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

**The Not So Virgin Islands**

x-x-x-x-x

_Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. – Aristotle_

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah smiled at the clear exuberance her sister was showing thumbing through the rack of hangers. "You do realize, Ellie," she said, in the tone that you would normally reserve for a small child. "That I have purchased a negligee before… all on my own."

"So has every two bit hooker," Ellie replied without looking up from her search. "Just because you've done it before doesn't mean that you did a good job. Besides, seducing your husband is different than throwing your body at some grubby CIA mark. It takes much more attention to detail."

"It's very different," Sarah agreed. "With the grubby CIA mark, the true objective is to not actually have sex. But I've also seduced my husband several times. In fact…"

"You said that you wanted this night to be special for him," Ellie interrupted. "You asked for my help to surprise him. Do you want it or not?"

"I do want it," Sarah said. "It's just I'm a little surprised by your enthusiasm. The seduce-e in this case does happen to be your brother. In the past you've made it a policy to stay out of our sex life."

"And trust me," Ellie said as she could no longer keep the smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth. "After tonight I fully intent to go firmly right back to that policy. But this isn't only my brother, he's also my patient. And it's been almost two weeks. The poor guy might explode at any minute now."

"That's sort of what I'm hoping for," Sarah said playfully as she bumped shoulders with Ellie sending her stumbling a little. "Maybe I haven't been totally clear. I'm hoping that he isn't the only one who explodes. I'm thinking that there might actually be multiple explosions."

That got the predictable groan. "You've been plenty clear," Ellie said.

Sarah clearly had her on the run. But she didn't let up from her sport. "Since between us, you were the last one to be a two bit hooker," she said with a smirk. "Maybe you know what you're talking about. After all, my nickname is The Enforcer. Your nickname is Slutty Ellie."

That got them both laughing. Fortunately, Ellie had already found what she was looking for. She held the light blue garment up to Sarah. "This is perfect," she said. "It matches your eyes perfectly."

"And even better," Sarah agreed. "You can see right through it."

But when they looked up from their laughing, the clerk was standing there beside them.

"Excuse me," she said shyly. "I'm so sorry to bother you in a family moment. But I'm such a big fan. Do you think I could have your autographs?"

Ellie and Sarah just looked at each other in stunned silence. "You want our autographs?" Ellie asked in confusion. "Why?"

"You're Ellie Bartowski, aren't you?" the clerk asked shyly. "And you're Sarah Bartowski?"

"Your pictures have been on the television non-stop for the past two weeks."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally, the instant Sarah got back to the house, she went looking for Chuck. Most of the team was gathered in the family room talking. Normally once she noticed that Carina and Jeff were back, she would have stayed for a few minutes and chatted. But she had already been away for almost two hours, and quite frankly she was getting a bit anxious to touch him.

When Sarah finally got back to their room, Chuck was in bed sleeping. And Sarah would be less than honest if she claimed to not be disappointed. After all, she had been looking forward to this moment for more than a few days now.

It was hard for her to be upset with Chuck. That wasn't very fair at all. After all, he was only a little over ten days away from nearly being killed.

But she honestly was.

So there was really nothing to do except get undressed, put on her old reliable silk nightshirt from Cancun, and climb into bed next to him. The negligee and accompanied show she had planned would wait for another night. And she did get something out of the deal. Snuggling with him was her favorite thing in the world. Watching him sleep was a close second.

"How long have you been home?"

Sarah didn't move her head from its comfortable position buried between his shoulder and chest. "About an hour," she said. "I'm sorry that I woke you. Go back to sleep."

"Huh?" Chuck said sleepily as he stirred forcing Sarah to move. "You told me to rest up… that this was going to be a big night for us. So I took a nap. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were sleeping," Sarah protested.

"You told me to rest up," Chuck repeated, his frustration more evident than he intended. "The last time you told me that, you came home and said that you had eliminated Ted Roark. Quite frankly I was hoping for something a little more exciting this time."

"That was the plan," Sarah said. "That's where I was. Ellie was helping me pick out a little something to help create the proper mood."

Chuck looked at her like she had just sprouted a second head. "Huh?" he asked in stunned amazement. "You seriously think that you have to do something special to create the mood? It's been damn near two weeks. If the mood was any more created the results would probably be somewhat less than satisfying."

That got Sarah laughing. "Okay," she said. "Maybe we can save that for Cancun. You still want to go, right?"

"Why would you ask me that?" Chuck said with something of an exasperated smile. "Are you drunk? Did you and Ellie stop at a bar on the way home?"

Sarah ignored the teasing and instead mounted her own counterattack. "Men kept buying us drinks," she said in faux innocence. "I'm not sure why. We're both pregnant. We couldn't drink any of them." Then she got a bit more serious. "We can go tomorrow," she said. "I still have the plane. I can fly us. Maybe this time I won't even have to bribe the Mexican Customs official. But fair warning. It's been a long two weeks for me too. Unless you get busy in the next few minutes, it's not sounding quite as horrible as it did the first time."

Chuck ignored her teasing for the moment. "We can't go tomorrow," he said. "The President called when you were gone, well actually his secretary. He wants us to come and meet with him tomorrow. I think he wants to know what our plans are. He wants me to help track down the remnants of Fulcrum."

That totally changed the mood in the room. "No way in hell," Sarah snapped as she rolled off the bed to stand there and glare at him.

Chuck looked in surprise at her standing there. "Sarah," he said soothingly. "He just wants…"

"I know what he wants!" Sarah basically screamed at him. "He can go to hell. Don't you dare tell me that you're going to listen to him. How much can they expect from you? From us? Please, Chuck."

Chuck rolled over to sit on the bed facing her. The quick movement made his still tender shoulder hurt a little but he ignored it. He knew that he had to calm her down. "Listen to me," he said firmly. "Our agreement has always been that you get veto power over anything related to the intersect. That's a deal that I made with you. Nothing's changed. If he wants to use the intersect in any way, the person he's going to have to convince is you."

It took a moment for what he was saying to sink in through Sarah's rage. But it finally did. "Do you promise?" she asked.

Chuck was being very careful to not give the impression that he was making fun of her. That would be a faux pas of huge proportions that would make being shot in the shoulder and almost dying seem like a good time by comparison. But he couldn't help the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Of course," he finally said. "After all, you've done your part… and my swimmers are very grateful. If you don't like anything that The President has to say, or even the tone of his voice when he says it, you can tell him to go straight to hell. Or give me the sign and I'll tell him."

"Oh, don't worry," Sarah said with still a touch of the rage that had just consumed her. "I'll tell him."

Now Chuck felt comfortable smiling openly. "Okay," he said. "But this is the President of The United States. He asked us to meet with him. We owe him the courtesy of showing up to listen, right? The whole team will be there."

"Fine," Sarah sighed as she allowed Chuck to pull her to sit next to him on the bed. Eventually she found her way back snuggled into him. "I'm really sorry that I yelled at you," she said softly. "I just don't think that you get it. I watched you die in my arms. It's the second time in a month where I thought that I would never see you again. I'm still having a hard time with that. So I'm going to be a little clingy for a while, probably more protective than usual. I'm sorry."

Chuck wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "Why on earth would you be sorry about that?" he asked. "Your being clingy is my very favorite thing in the world."

"Good," Sarah said. "Because I just lied to you. I'm not going to be a little clingy. I'm going to be a lot clingy… and not just for a while, for a very long time."

"I know," Chuck said softly. "Trust me. Bring as much of that as you want." They just sat there together snuggled for a long moment. "I'm worried about you," he finally said.

Well, that certainly got Sarah's attention. "Worried?" she quickly asked. "Why would you be worried?"

Chuck paused for a long moment. "Our lives are about to totally change," he finally started slowly. "And especially for you. Our war is over. We no longer have enemies seeking to use us for their evil purposes. Your days as a covert agent are over too. Even if you wanted to continue, you're now much too famous to ever be effective. That means you can no longer solve problems by pulling your gun out of your waistband, throwing a knife at someone, or unbuttoning some buttons on your blouse. Remember that night in Cancun when we promised each other that we would be together someday? Remember the story I told you about the Long Brick Road?"

Sarah didn't lift her head. She just nodded. "Of course," she said. "How could I forget that?"

"Our road hasn't ended," Chuck said. "In fact, it's really only nicely begun. We're just going to go in another direction. The truth is that I no longer need you to spend every waking minute worried about me. I know that has been a big part of who you've been for the past few years. So now I think that I need to spend some time worried about you. Sarah, I want you to be happy. Not just content… but truly happy. That's the most important thing in the world to me. What can I do to help you? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

It suddenly hit her. When he said anything, he meant it. He would literally do anything she needed to be happy. He was every bit as protective of her as she was of him. Of course that wasn't news at all. It was simply today's reminder of what she already knew. But it was still overwhelming to think how close she came a few nights ago to losing that. Sarah made no attempt to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. "Why do you always have to be so sweet?" she asked as soon as she could get the words out. "You know how much I hate to cry in front of you." She snuggled even more firmly into him. "For the record, I love worrying about you. I really don't see that ending anytime soon." then she got quiet for a moment. "And yes, I have a transition to make," she finally admitted. "Maybe it will be harder than I'm anticipating. There are some things that I might miss. But understand something. I'm in the only place that I want to be. I'm with the only person in the world who I want to be with. And the honest truth is that I'm looking forward to building that road with you… probably more than you are."

"I believe you," Chuck said. "Sarah, I'm not doubting you. It's just that I think it might be harder than you think."

"Besides," Sarah said with the twinkle in her eye becoming noticeable. "There are still plenty of problems I can solve by unbuttoning buttons."

That got them both laughing. "That's probably true," Chuck admitted. "You're in demand. The phone has been ringing off the hook all day for all of you girls. But especially you and Misty."

"There's no way I'm posing for any disgusting men's magazine," Sarah snorted. "No matter how much money they offer."

"Umm, yeah," Chuck said. "I don't think the ten million for the five of you is going to happen. Brigid's face was pretty red when Ellie told her about it. And Ellie was pretty angry herself."

"Of course Carina would gladly take off her clothes for a half-off Taco Bell coupon," Sarah said disgustedly. "And Misty would have probably considered it if Casey hadn't reacted so strongly." Then she saw his grin. "What's with that face?" she asked. "Do you really think I should do it?"

"I don't know," Chuck teased. "I really haven't seen the assets in question for so long. I may not be qualified to give an opinion."

"Really?" Sarah asked with the sparkle in her eyes now obvious as she stood up and faced him. "I suppose that now you're going to tell me some B.S. story that it's time for my punishment and trick me into taking off my top like in the hospital. No way mister. You're not getting me on that one twice." But belying her words of protest, her nightshirt was quickly over her head and on the floor. Clearly teasing, she stood there and posed for him for a long moment. "So?" she asked with a grin. "Are the assets as you remembered?"

Chuck looked at her critically. "Are you really going to stop there?" he asked. "All of the disgusting men's magazines I've ever seen have the centerfold full monty."

"Really," Sarah said as her panties slowly slid to the floor. "Well, I suppose you have more experience in that area. Is this more like it?"

"A lot more experience," Chuck agreed. "And you know how sensitive I am to treating you like an object. But having said that… wow. Mrs. Bartowski, you are perhaps the most beautiful woman in the world."

Sarah stepped up to where Chuck as sitting and kissed him. "Why, Mr. Bartowski," she said. "You're making me blush." Quickly the kissing turned intense with Sarah pushing Chuck on his back. Sarah was clearly being careful of his shoulder but soon she was laying on him in as heavy of a petting session as they had ever experienced. "I'm not sure what punishment you have in mind for tonight," she whispered, pausing the hot action for just a second. "But I really don't need a nap."

"That's good," Chuck said between kisses. "Because I have a completely different punishment in mind for tonight."

It had been quite a couple of weeks for Sarah Bartowski. She had lived her entire adult life as a covert agent. And that meant shying away from publicity as much as possible. But she had just helped take down a plot to overthrow the government. For political reasons The President insisted that everyone involved be disclosed to the press. That meant that Sarah Bartowski had instantly become one of the most recognizable faces in the world. Chuck was right. Talent agents were crawling all over themselves to get that famous and beautiful face to work for them. The men's magazine thing was only the obvious offer that everyone was talking about. She was also offered endorsement deals for products ranging from baby lotion to sports cars.

Those two weeks had also included the horror of watching her husband die in her arms… and the indescribable joy at finding out that he was miraculously alive after all. Oh and last but not least learn that she was about to have a baby… Chuck's baby.

But all of those thoughts were driven away by two minutes worth of necking. Okay so it was an unbelievably hot two minutes, but still. The truth was that Sarah was embarrassed. She thought that she needed a sexy negligee to show him how much he meant to her. That was silly. Oh, they would definitely use it later. But now it was time for intimacy… for an expression of love. She was exactly where she wanted to be. It honestly felt so good that it almost inspired a little guilt. Nobody could expect to feel like this. So she just had to tell him. "I've never been happier in my life," she whispered between long kisses. "Thank you. I didn't think this was possible."

Chuck was content to allow the passion to simmer and slowly build. After all, if Sarah realized it or not, she couldn't have possibly said anything better to him. And she was clearly on fire. It was time to stop teasing her and tell her more than possible with words what she meant to him. So he grabbed her and rolled them over so that he was on top.

"Chuck," Sarah whispered. "Be careful. Don't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry," Chuck said with a smile as he started a trail of kisses down her neck. So the way it worked out, Sarah got her big night. In fact bigger than she planned. Once he was at her stomach, he paused for a second and lifted his head. "And for the record," he said with a sly grin.

"This is much better than reading a disgusting men's magazine."

x-x-x-x-x

Misty found her way down to the lake. It wasn't that hard. Even though it was pitch dark, she had been out here a hundred times in the past few weeks. It had actually become her favorite place. Naturally as a world class swimmer, Misty was totally comfortable in the water. And normally she would be doing some very fast laps right about now to burn off her frustration. Except for this stupid shoulder injury.

She really hadn't planned on coming out here. She knew that swimming was out for another month. It just sort of happened on its own. She just knew that she had to get out of the house. So she sat on the dock and let her feet swish in the cool water. It was therapeutic. It didn't require any thought. And Misty was tired of thinking. So she just let her feet swish and listened to the waves gently lap against the dock.

"I thought I would find you out here."

Misty was so wrapped up in her non-thoughts that she didn't even hear Casey until he was stepping onto the dock. "Did you walk all the way out here?" she asked. Certainly she would have heard one of the ATVs approaching.

"Yeah," Casey said as he kicked off his shoes and sat next to her. "I ran actually. I'm getting a little too soft eating your cooking."

"You could actually push away from the table," Misty said in mock annoyance. "Nobody is forcing you to take seconds… or thirds." Then she got a little quiet. "Ellie sent you, didn't she? Tell Dr. Bartowski that I understand that it's too early to try and swim."

"Dr. Bartowski didn't send me," Casey said. "It was all Ellie. Trust me on this one. My orders were short, concise, and to the point. But this time they weren't really needed. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

Misty looked out into the darkness of the lake. "What makes you think something is wrong?" she finally asked.

That actually got a laugh. "You're kidding, right?" Casey asked. "I may not be the most perceptive person in the world. But the look that came over your face was pretty obvious when Carina told everyone that she and Jeff had gotten married."

Misty still stayed quiet. "That was pretty surprising, huh?" she asked.

"Not really," Casey said. Then he responded to her surprised look. "Not once you got to know her. The tough girl thing was always an act, a hard candy shell to protect the soft middle."

"That's interesting," Misty said. "I think that…"

"Did you really think that I don't want you to be happy?" Casey interrupted. "Is that why you went running off? Is that really what you think of me?"

Misty was surprised by the harshness in his voice. She wasn't sure where it was coming from. "Come on, Casey," she said with as much smile as she could manage. "You don't want to be married. I'm okay with that."

"Bullshit!" Casey growled. Now there could be no mistaking how angry he was. "I don't want you to be okay. I want you to be happy. How about you let me decide what it is that I want?" Then he saw her stunned look and the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry that I raised my voice to you," he said softly. "This is a touchy subject with me."

"I know," Misty said softly as she tried to wipe her eyes. "But things are different now. I'm not Kathleen."

Casey did a double take. "You remember her name?"

"Come on, Casey," Misty said with somewhat her own level of annoyance. "When the guy that you're in love with tells you that kind of story, you remember every single detail. I know that story still haunts you. But it was a long time ago. Maybe it's time that you forgave yourself and moved on. In case you hadn't noticed, I want you to be happy too."

"I've noticed," Casey said softly. "Of course I have. You know that two years ago I would have never even considered anything as crazy as getting married. But being around Bartowski, well, it's changed me I guess… made me a little soft. Two years ago, Walker and I couldn't stand each other. But we became something of friends."

"Something of friends?" Misty asked incredulously. "A little soft? Why can't you admit it? You love them. They are like family to you. What's wrong with admitting it? Afraid your hard candy shell won't protect the soft middle?"

Casey ignored the question. "So now my main question is - Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked. "You're not exactly getting Prince Charming out of this deal."

Misty made no attempt to keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "And that's where you're just plain wrong," she said. "Don't you realize that you are my Prince Charming? Maybe you don't fight fire breathing dragons. You fight bad guys with guns. When I needed you, you were there. I expect that's going to be true for the rest of my life… and a girl could do a lot worse. So yes. I want it. But I don't want you to do something that you don't want just because I do."

Casey looked around uncomfortably. "So how do we do this?" he asked. "I don't have a ring."

"Don't worry, Casey," Misty laughed through her tears. "I'm not expecting you to get down on one knee or anything. Just look me in the eye and tell me that you want it… that you're not doing it just for me."

"Would it be so horrible to do it just for you?" Casey asked softly. "The honest truth is that I don't see much changing if we get married or not. But you do. And since I love you, that's the only reason I need."

"Wow," Misty whispered once the long, very wet, kiss broke. "We need to get back to the house."

"You want to tell the other girls," Casey said with a laugh. "You're not fooling me."

"Maybe," Misty admitted sheepishly. "A little bragging certainly wouldn't be out of line."

"But we also have some celebrating to do."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were sitting on the beach watching the sun set and letting the surf lap at their legs. It was perhaps the most romantic setting they had ever been in. As it turned out, they never got their honeymoon in Cancun. It wasn't from the lack of opportunity. The resort there was pleading with them to come and spend as much time as they wanted as their guests. After all, the free publicity they would get from that would be huge.

But The President wouldn't hear of it. He was fairly insistent that the honeymoons, after all there were going to be five, take place on American soil. Fortunately, there was a resort on a private island in the Virgin Islands that was all over themselves trying to woo the newest American heroes to spend a few weeks as their guests. And as it turned out, the resort made the one in Cancun look like a campground by comparison anyway.

It was an odd meeting all around. You didn't get to be President of the United States unless you could be incredibly charming. On the other hand, Sarah Walker-Bartowski was not exactly the easiest woman around to charm. And especially since he was trying to talk her into agreeing to allow her husband to come work for the government again. That was going to be a hard sell.

Frankly, at first it wasn't going well for him at all. Sarah made her position abundantly clear. But to his credit, he was persistent. The big turnaround came when he assured her that Chuck would never be asked to go out into the field. All of his work would be done from an office. He then gently pointed out that Chuck would never be truly safe until the very last remnants of Fulcrum were rounded up and could pose no further threat. Naturally, that argument appealed to Sarah a great deal.

Then The President moved in for the kill. He offered the whole team jobs. Ellie and Devon were going to head up research on the new intersect project. But first he assured them that he had the utmost respect for the power something like an intersect represented, recognized the potential for evil, and was adamant that the proper controls be put in place to insure that no person was ever experimented upon again.

Casey and Sarah were assigned to continue as Chuck's bodyguards. It really was just an excuse to keep them on the payroll. Jeff would continue to head the President's Secret Service protection detail and Carina would join.

So in the end, Sarah really had little choice but to agree.

All that was left was the weddings. Not too many people could say that they were married in the Oval Office. But it worked out perfectly. The ceremonies were short, sweet, and to the point. But they were formality anyway. Then it was time for the honeymoons.

The trip actually worked out better than expected. There was an unspoken agreement that the five couples would get together each day and do something fun as a group. Ellie was naturally the one elected to set that agenda. No matter what activity she picked, it always seemed to deteriorate into a giggling session, especially for the girls. But then they would go their separate ways and get into honeymoon mode. Sarah had plenty of opportunities to model her new negligee, play slutty doctor, and finally deliver on her off-promised interpretation of what Chuck's wildest fantasy night would look like. To say that she was successful would be ridiculous understatement.

Chuck sat with Sarah snuggled into his shoulder as usual and watched the sun slowly set into the calm water. They could see Casey and Misty in the distance doing the same thing. Finally he was forced to grin and run her stomach affectionately. "Imagine the stories that we're going to tell him," he said.

"I know," Sarah sighed. "Some of them might have to wait for a few years. What are you going to tell him first?"

"Oh that's easy," Chuck quickly replied. "I'm going to tell him the story of an underachieving nerd that worked in a Buy More. The simple truth was he was drifting through life, going nowhere fast. Then one day fate intervened. An old college buddy sent him an email with a ton of government secrets. It changed his life. But the next day really changed his life. Because a beautiful spy named Sarah walked into it. And at first it was pretty hard. They both made some mistakes and hurt each other. For a while it looked like it could simply never happen for them. But quickly enough, they fell in love."

"It's a nice story," Sarah agreed as she snuggled a little deeper into him. "Actually, it sounds more like a fairy tale. There's really only one thing to do after a story like that."

The grin never left Chuck face. "What's that?" he asked.

Sarah lifted her head and looked at him like he had just grown a second head of his own. "You're kidding, right?" she asked. "Hello? Honeymoon?"

"Kiss me, Chuck."

The End

x-x-x-x-x

_Fair warning, this is going to be one of those long author's notes. There are also some general spoilers imbedded in it._

_I wanted to wait until the finale was over before posting this. Not that it made any difference in the end. I'll make no secret that I wasn't particularly crazy about the ending. It was far too ambiguous for my taste. But I also firmly believe that Chuck and Sarah left that beach in love, married with a bright future, and that Sarah will quickly remember most things and gradually remember everything. So where I'm ending them is basically where I believe the show did._

_I feel a little like Brent Favre. I've written this retirement speech a couple of times now. I'm pretty sure that this time I really mean it. I'm sure that there will be a core group of people who will always be interested in the characters enough to keep the fandom alive at some level. But, let's face it. After the show ends with no hope of more episodes, a lot of interest is going to quickly wane. That's simply the laws of nature._

_This is almost assuredly the last BillAtWork story. If there is enough interest, BrickRoad and I have talked about co-writing the story continuing from the beach where the show left us under the BillAndBrick moniker. It would be called The Long Road Home. Chuck and Sarah have to learn how to rebuild their lives together as she slowly regains her memories while an old threat resurfaces. But writing a story of this magnitude is hard under the best of circumstances. If there isn't enough interest, we're perfectly content to ride into the sunset. That's as it should be. We'll be off to find the next Chuck and Sarah to obsess over._

_There are lots of things I will miss very much. I'll miss the friends that I've made. I'll miss the uplifting support I've received. I'll miss the debates about the characters. By the way, for those of you who think that Agent Walker never seduced anyone, explain why she thought she was on a five year mission married to her mark. The cold calculating agent that she reverted to before Chuck changed her is exactly my vision in the early part of this story. We've just never seen it so clearly displayed before._

_But there are some things that I most definitely won't miss. There is a group of people who have taken the mission upon themselves to define what a good Chuck fan looks like. That definition is mostly incoherent to me. From what I can tell, the main attribute of a good Chuck fan is that you always agree with them._

_It's no secret that I've sometimes been critical of the writing on the show. I'm trying hard to be fair. After all, I don't have a clue what it takes to produce an hour long show for five seasons. But the first rule of story telling is that you have to take the things you have told previously as a given. And if you're going to tell something that contradicts something that we've previously been told, you need to explain that contradiction. Anything less is lazy at best - and dishonest at worst._

_There are tons of examples where it looks as if the writer of an episode had never watched the show before. I have to say, on balance, that fanfic has done a lot better job at story continuity. So when one of these superior race type people tell me that I want a fanfic ending, I guess I've decided to take it as a compliment._

_Let's be clear. The main part of the show that appeals to me is the love story of Chuck and Sarah. I judge every episode primarily on how that relationship and its two lead characters are treated. That makes me a crazy shipper to the superior race crowd. Okay. If I'm a crazy shipper, I'm one proudly. If Jeffster was performing live in my front yard, I don't think I would expend the energy to wander out there and watch. If I was watching the show for the mythology, I'd have stopped watching a couple of seasons ago. It's incoherent._

_Okay, enough of that rant._

_Chuck and the fandom have been such a large part of my life for the past few years that I frankly am feeling a little empty. I guess that's part of the mourning process. It will fade. But I just want to close by saying how much fun this has been (mostly) and how honored I am by your encouragement and your support._

_See you in the next fandom._

x-x-x-x-x


End file.
